Gent – A Day in the Life of the Europe Dome team
Gent| Dome events are fun. But to make them fun, a lot of tasks need to be taken care of before, during and after the talks. Follow the organisers through their daily (non-)routine during the BeNeLux Tour and get to know another side of beautiful Gent.
The dome day started with an alarm on 4 April at 7.40 in the morning. Actually, that’s not true. The dome day even starts the evening before, finishing the dismantling of the dome, in Antwerp at 8pm, together with our two volunteers from Meer Democratie Belgium. Luckily, Gent is only about an hour away from Antwerp and for us non-locals, we had booked an accommodation in advance to make our travels as smooth as possible. 4 people making up the core team, however, also meant that we don’t fit into the van with its 3 seats. Hence, 4 people, 2 cars, 60 minutes.
Once we had arrived at around 9pm, we still had to get something to eat and charge all our electronics: not only phones but 2 video cameras, 2 electronic power tools, 1 photo camera, 2 sets of batteries for the recording device and the Go Pro. Of course, all talks from Antwerp needed to be saved on an external drive to have a safety copy and to have enough memory for the next day’s events. Suddenly it’s already 11.30pm and time to go to bed.
Building up the dome
The way we’re exploiting identity politics is simply wrong. The way we’re defining ourselves by distancing ourselves from the others, so to say, and now mostly from refugees and migrants, that’s just completely wrong and certain top politicians are approaching this the completely wrong way.
So, the actual dome day then again starts with the alarm on 4 April at 7.40, as mentioned in the beginning. Departure time: 8.20, as we wanted to be at Woordrow Wilsonplein at 9, where our 2 great volunteers for the day, Guido and Bert, awaited us. Waking up, showering, getting ready, a quick breakfast, packing everything and taking it to the car. „Where to leave the keys?“. „The host said on the kitchen table.“. „Done!“. And off we go, perfectly on time.
But a dome day never goes as expected. It turns out, Gent is not the easiest city to drive through. Suddenly we miss our turn, and end up in a completely different neighbourhood on the other side oft he canal, having lost the second car with our 4th team member. After 15 minutes, already running late, we finally make it back on the route and are gearing towards Woodrow Wilsonplein. It looks really nice, much better than on Google Maps. And suddenly we’re already past it, trying to find a parking spot. And again, a wrong turn and we’re on the highway back to Brussels. But…weren’t we in Gent city centre just a minute ago? It’s 9am, our meeting time with the volunteers. And it’s going to take us at least another 17 minutes and 10 km to get back to Woodrow Wilsonplein.
The third time is a charm, so on our third try we finally make it! Guido, Bert and David, the lost team member, all made it there before the dome and have been waiting in the chilly morning breeze for more than half an hour. But Antwerp went really well the day before, so we’re excited for the day and start the build-up. As we had to get a permit from Gent municipality for where to build our dome this time, we now need to check the sketch for the details. But that sketch was nowhere to be found on the computer. So, from memory. As usually, 2 people with power tools, 2 people handing the wooden beams and iron connectors. Together we then assemble the dome, putting on helmets and climbing on ladders. Finally, we put the chairs together and decorate the dome with coloured papers and the clothesline.
Video of our 4 stops in Belgium
The first talk is scheduled for 12.30 pm. And that’s exactly the time we finish erecting the Europe-Dome. Many curious passers-by have already asked questions: “What are you doing here?“. “What is this?“. “Why are you building this?“. “Is it an igloo?“. “Can I climb on it?“. One of us also takes some scenic pictures and video clips for the summary videos. Then, it’s promotion time; equipped with flyers and great explanations we start preying on future participants. And that’s not easy. Often, after inviting people under the dome, the statement „I don’t know anything about Europe, I cannot add anything“, then turns into nice and really interesting conversations. However, to get someone to actually enter the dome is a challenging task.
At 12.45 we welcome first 2 participants and get started on the topic of migration and integration. Eventually more people join the conversation. One of us moderates, another one films the conversations, and a third person takes pictures and short videos from the outside. One volunteer also takes part in the talk and the rest of us continues to promote the event ‘outside’.
When the first talk ends it is nearly time to start the second one. We grab a quick bite and something to drink at the bakery in the shopping centre and continue to invite people to a talk on expectations towards the new European Parliament.
Video of our 2 stops in Luxembourg
Again, our attempts to invite people inside lead to so many great conversations concerning the dome and lots of wonderful input already. And some more questions: „Isn’t this just a leftist project?“, with the response: „No, it’s open to everyone and the content depends on the participants“. But this time we are less lucky with finding actual participants – in terms of quantity, not quality. In the end, our second dome talk in Gent has 2 participants, both of whom have a lot to share and great ideas. Suddenly it turns out, one of them is a journalist and plans to write an article on his experiences under the dome. Even though we already had some articles published on the Sphere it’s a stroke of luck!
At 5pm, the day comes to an end and we can start dismantling. This process is faster than erecting it. Still, it takes us 2 hours until everything is stored safely in the van. Time to say goodbye to our volunteers and to hit the road towards Maastricht. With a drive of approximately 2 hours, it’s the longest distance we will travel on the BeNeLux Tour. Tired as we are after 2 consecutive Dome Days, we decide to eat something first and not risk all kitchens to be closed by the time we arrive.
About 3 hours later, we arrive at our accommodation in Maastricht. We make another stop at the gas station, after picking up the keys to our 1-night-home and have to search for a parking spot for our huge van. It’s 11.30 pm: 3 phones, 2 video cameras, 2 electronic power tools, 1 photo camera, 2 sets of batteries for the recording device and the Go Pro are charging. Time to go to bed and get some rest for our first stop in the Netherlands at the stunning Dominicanen bookshop the next day. The alarm is set for 7.40.
