61. The Wedding of the Giants

A story about another Pieter who lived in the 15^th century, brought to life again in Canberra in 2006.

In 2006, a special wedding took place under the Carillion at Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. It was the Belgian wedding of the giants, one of the major attractions of the Multicultural Festival. In the early days of the Multicultural Festival, a large parade through the CBD was one of the main attractions, where people from different cultures could take part in a float and showcase their costumes, dances, music and activities, often supported by the various embassies situated in Yarralumla. If you have never seen these embassies, it is worth a visit when you are in Canberra. Many are built in the typical style of their country and in this way the embassy tour takes you from country to country.  The Belgian Embassy office is not very remarkable, but the residential house behind the office is built in typical style of many of the mansions you can find around Brussels, which is also the capital of the EU.

So what is the Belgian tradition of the giants? Processional giants are part of a long-standing tradition in many cities in Belgium, often associated with carnival, and dating back to the 15^th century. They occur every year and give their city a colourful event that attracts many people from far and wide.

The Belgian Embassy in Canberra wanted to recreate this procession of the giants as part of the multicultural parade, and decided to use the theme of the peasant’s wedding, painted by Pieter Breughel de Oude (the Elder), which features ‘rijstpap’ (rice pudding), a typical Belgian dish, which was served during the event. Pieter Breughel de Jonge (the Younger), his son, was also a famous painter and well known for his wintery landscapes with peasants during the Little Ice Age (1458–1552).

There is a saying in Belgium that when you enter heaven after death, you will be able to eat copious amounts of ‘rijstpap’ with silver spoons – clearly a reference to the rich in those days who could afford such a special food – rice was uncommon and brought over from the Orient, and who could own silver spoons other than the rich.

A workshop to create two giant puppets was organised with the help of volunteers from the Belgian Club Canberra under the guidance of Belgian artist Chantale Delrue, who came over for this occasion from Tasmania. The club was in a frenzy for weeks, and had a lot of fun constructing the frames, faces and clothes of the giant puppets. A traditional custom brought back to life to celebrate a Belgian tradition!

One of the puppets represented Pieter Breughel the Elder, the other represented ‘Dulle Griet’ (Mad Meg), a warrior woman from the Middle Ages who used a large iron ball as a weapon, and who also features in one of the paintings from Pieter Breughel the Elder. The name was later used to name a canon used in the siege of Ghent by the Roman Emperor Maximilian I in the late 15^th century.

In a twist of fate, the Belgian Embassy decided to rewrite history and let Pieter Breughel the Elder marry Mad Meg, this dangerous warrior woman. The procession was accompanied by many Belgians and friends who dressed in medieval costumes for the occasion, inspired by the painting. The giant puppets were constructed in such a way that a person could get inside the frame and walk the giant; the arms were moved around via attached sticks by two assisting ‘medieval peasants’.

The two giants walked in the Multicultural festival parade, after which the wedding procession marched towards the Carillion at Lake Burley Griffin. Once there, the Belgian Ambassador was asked to marry the two giants, as the wedding celebrant. This wedding was accompanied by music and was challenging, because ‘Dulle Griet’ was covered with a veil which had to be removed before Pieter Breughel could kiss his bride. The question was also whether this warrior woman would have wanted to marry her portraitist or even wear a veil, but in this historic rewrite the two were clearly obsessed with each other! Their kiss lasted much longer than permissible, but the crowd was happy that their passion managed to contain the urge of Mad Meg to go fighting and killing and slashing around an iron ball.

Once the couple was happily married the wedding feast of the peasants, depicted in one of the paintings by Pieter Breughel, could commence. The tables recreated the ebullient style of food platters, including fruit, fresh Belgian waffles, Belgian beers, chocolate and other specialties. Belgians love their food, and the name of Breughel remains associated with voluptuous food and drinks, to be enjoyed by all. It is all influenced by French food further refined in Belgium, and set in the context of the Catholic tradition, where sins of excesses can be forgiven as part of confession. After that, enjoyment of life can start again!

The guest writer of this story, Frederick, took part in this event and marched inside one of the giants.  This meant he got married for a second time, this time to the person inside the other giant. The procession, and the march towards the island, was hard work and very hot, and luckily both giants were supplied with plenty of water by the giants’ underlings.

As far as Frederick knows, the giants have remained happily married but no account of children giants is known to exist. Nor is there any trace left of where the giant puppets went after their marriage, but a secret hide out is suspected. Perhaps Dulle Griet wasn’t the motherly type and Pieter Breughel the Elder had to content with creating his ‘children’ on canvass and wood panels instead.

Frederick

PS. The next blog post, on 22 December, will be another unusual one, featuring Leeds Castle in England and Luciano Pavarotti’s room.