Belgium

When you see a classic Brussels broкant for the first time, you exclaim “Hei, for Belgians even the market places are European like!”. Probably because on such markets you can see all kinds of odds and ends exposed next to real antiques, but they all are organized and ordered in such a way that it “smells” like a history from a thousand kilometers. Normal! Especially when taking into consideration the fact that since 16th century the practical and material Belgians have acquired the tradition to go out on the town square and substitute the staff they do not need for something that may be more useful. Currently the brokants are a real soul adventure. This is the only place where the rich man, the beggar and the landless immigrant can speak to each other as equals.

However, The Belgian’s dilemma in Sunday morning is not “Going to church or to a brokant?” He just goes to both. The real brokant-addict is already on the square in 7 am. It is so because the traders start arranging their goods since 5 am. If you really want to catch a real antique, you need to be fast and very watchful. The market at Sаblon square is formed everyday. Under neatly ordered stalls you may see original chairs “Chip and Dale”, desks in the style “Ampir” and old-time jewels, put in at least 100-years old cupboards. However, the prices are regarding the quality of the objects or even a little above it. At Marche de Pius you may see unique furniture next to long lines of boxes, consisting of staff gathered after cleaning somebody’s basement, and having a sign “Everything at the price of 1 euro” on them. You may happen to dig out an incredible treasure or you may as well “dive” around useless junks a whole day with no result. Sometimes on Sunday an amateur orchestra entertains the brokant-visitors, other times manually wound gramophone with a horn plays a record with an “ancient” tango. The lowest level of a Belgium market is organized in the underground parking lots of the big supermarkets on Sunday, when most of the shops do not work.  Yes, the booths are on a dry place, but they are actually formed on blankets, stretched on the ground. This is a place where usually book-lovers unleash their passion. A person can suit himself with the whole series of Encyclopedia Larus, sold by an illiterate Arab – a volume, bind in beef skin and issued a century ago for 1 euro only. But then again, on some days you can also wander with hours and not find anything that is worth a penny. 
In the little picturesque towns like Lioven, famous for its cathedral and the city-hall that looks like a stone lace, the brokants are usually situated on the big square. The good organization requires some volunteers, wearing sparkling waistcoats to direct the drivers to the parking places. In the evening - when everybody goes home, every tradesman cleans around his so called “booth”, so that there is no need for a scavenger to go over and clean the whole area.

The brokants are the only place in Belgium, where a real bargaining is flourishing. Here it is not a symbol of stinginess, but a matter of honor.  The trade with antiques and lumber in Brussels lives every day from early dawn till the early afternoon – the time when some of the dealers even re-sell some of their acquisitions. It would not be uncommon to notice the same stock at the window display of an expensive antiques shop, with the only difference that the price here will be much higher. The Belgians are so good at the brokant business thanks to their well developed cult towards history, which determines also their honor and passion for antique objects. Why a person to enjoy such thinks only in museums? The flamand people generally are introvert and usually there is at least 1 hobby that “ripens” deep down in their mind. For example some collect wooden ducks and hunters` stool pigeons – for a better interior, old photo apparatus or porcelain figures, clocks with cuckoos or post cards older than a century.
If you are, let’s say numismatist, then you thrust your hand into a scuffed wash basin at today’s brokant and you start counting money /dough/, that are almost as ancient as the whole human history. According to your taste and at accessible prices! Around them you can see bargain-sale of sweaters for 50 cents each and coats – for 5 euros. The leather ones you can buy only at the price of 10 euros, for which amount generally you can not find even a rooky fox wherever else! Men and women shoes – deformed or never worn, with sharp or oval fronts, summer or winter ones. There are also boxes, full of books, amongst which the lucky find real relics for almost no expense – first editions or simply dictionaries and manuals that are just necessary.
The colorful Belgian market place has given the birth of a whole new profession – emptier of cellars and old houses. The negation varies – they either get a certain amount of money for cleaning off the lumber from which they release the objects` owners or they receive all the staff for free. Wonder whether somewhere amongst all the dust is not “sleeping” an unknown masterpiece of Bruegel? You may check that out yourself – every Saturday and Sunday in Brussels. If you are using low-budget airlines the prices for a round-way trip may not be more than 50 euros.

Magdalena Gigova, newspaper “Night Trud”
Pictures THE AUTHORESS