Re-listen to The Lover with Christophe Busch Stay amazed!

In 2017, we closed the year with Christoph Busch, criminologist and Master in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He became director of the Kazerne Dossin museum in 2016, the Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights in Mechelen that aims not only to remember, but also to learn a lesson from one of the blackest pages of our history. On 1 December, we rebroadcast this fine episode of The Lover.

Christophe Busch
Christophe Busch (°Ghent, 1977) holds a Master's degree in Criminological Sciences (Ghent University) and a Master's degree in Holocaust and Genocide Studies (University of Amsterdam). After studying criminology in Ghent, he started working as a criminologist in 2001 in the newly established forensic psychiatric institutions for the treatment of medium-risk interned offenders. Later, as coordinator, he was responsible for the expansion of the forensic care circuit in Zelzate. At the end of 2012, he made the move to Kazerne Dossin where he was appointed operational director in January 2013 and general director in July 2016, succeeding Herman Van Goethem who became rector at the University of Antwerp. And this year, he completed his PhD on radicalisation and offender behaviour at the University of Amsterdam.

It could not have been more symbolic for Christophe Busch, in April 2016, the month after jet-black Tuesday 22 March, he saw his expertise within radicalisation valorised. His choice and that of his predecessor Herman Van Goethem were written in the stars. At 14, Herman Van Goethem frequented the city archives. At 14, criminologist Christophe Busch visited concentration camps. Human rights as a hobby. They made it their business, as successive museum directors of the Dossin Barracks.
Culture is a variable, which can produce both great beauty and ruthless destruction.
Christophe Busch
The Lover with Christophe BuschSeek
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His experience as a behavioural scientist came in very handy for Busch, because the revolution Van Goethem advocated for Kazerne Dossin no longer focused only on genocide victims but also on the perpetrators. Kazerne Dossin aims not only to remember, but also to learn a lesson from one of the blackest pages of our history. “The dynamics are timeless. We feel a gigantic need to arm our visitors against it.” In the aftermath of the 2016 attacks, Busch organised the three-day congress ‘Connecting Law & Memory’ at Kazerne Dossin, kicking off a three-year programme on polarisation and radicalisation, focusing on those on the ground, police, civil servants, journalists, magistrates, teachers as well as politicians. Polarisation management is becoming the challenge of this era, said Busch.

For Christophe Busch, culture is a variable that can produce both great beauty and ruthless destruction. “It is that element that makes us different as human beings. The clash of cultures often results in wars, polarisation and other conflicts. I appreciate the beauty of cultural diversity, yet am often amazed by the negative energy that emanates from it.”
Rightful questions, because in Auschwitz, after a day in the gas chambers, the executioners went to listen to Bach and Wagner without any problem.

Currently running at Kazerne Dossin is the temporary exhibition ‘The Art of War’ with works by Goya, Masereel and Picasso, among others. And Busch plans to bring more international exhibitions to Mechelen in the future. More info at www.kazernedossin.eu.

Christophe Busch wrote the following in our guestbook:

With very big thanks for the question, the search and the wonderful programme.
Trying to make a difference together in such a way is the essence of our existence.
My choice and search took me personally back into the past
and was again enriching for me as a person too!

Thanks!

Christophe Busch

On the programme:

Lewis Allan: Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday - Youtube - [0:02:33]
Philip Glass: Intensive Time by Yo Yo Ma, cello; Alexandra Montano, mezzo-soprano; Members of the Philip Glass Ensemble conducted by Michael Riesman - Sony Classical SK-87709 - [0:08:08]
Anouar Brahem: The Lover of Beirut by Anouar Brahemn oud, Klaus Gesing, bass clarinet; Björn Meyer,double bass; Khaled Yassine, darbouka, bendir - ECM 2075 - [0:07:44]
Armand Amar: Immigration by Gülay Hacer Toruk, vocals; The City of Prague Philharmonic conducted by Adam Klemens - Warner Classics Erato 0825646025794 - [0:04:17]
Arvo Pärt: My heart's in the highlands by Else Torp, soprano; Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, organ - Harmonia Mundi HMU-807553 - [0:08:41]
Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite No.2 op.64: The Dance of the Knights by Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Stéphane Denève - Deutsche Grammophon 00289 4816548 - [0:04:26]

Ludovico Einaudi: Elegy for the Arctic by Ludovico Einaudi, piano - Youtube - [0:03:13]
Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne no. 20 in c-sharp op.posth. (Lento con gran espressione) by Elisabeth Leonskaya, piano - Warner classics 2564 64374-2 - [0:04:05]
Gustav Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Revelge by Dietrich Henschel, baritone; Boris Berezovzky, piano - Evil Penguin Records Classic EPRC 013 - [0:05:40]
Denis Pousseur: The Mad Gardener's Song by Marianne Pousseur, vocals; Simone Moesen, vocals - Igloo IGL-096 - [0:04:16]
Henry Purcell: March in c minor, Z 860 from “Funeral Music for Queen Mary” by Les Trompettes Des Plaisirs conducted by Jean-François Madeuf - Ricercar RIC-332 - [0:02:47]
Wim Mertens: The tonality by Wim Mertens Ensemble - WM Music WMM7816 - [0:04:43]
Ludwig van Beethoven: 4. Finale. Presto from Symphony no.9 in d op.125 (excerpt) by Melanie Diener, soprano; Petra Lang, mezzo-soprano; Endrik Wottrich, tenor; Dietrich Henschel, bass; La Chapelle Royale;Collegium Vocale;Orchestre des Champs-Elysées conducted by Philippe Herreweghe - Harmonia mundi 901687 - [0:07:05]

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