More info about the renowned Giants of Belgium
Giants, what are those exactly, and why do we have them in Belgium?
History of the giant
When we're talking about giants, one often starts to imagine loads of different things and quickly ends up in old tales and legends. In that sense numerous giants are found already dating back to the Greek mythology, but also in contemporary tales like Hagrid from the Harry Potter books and movies.
Giants are usually represented as giant figures with lots of power. In the Middle Ages they constructed in this way gigantic puppets to bring these figures to life. Also in Belgium the first giants date back already several hundreds of years. The "Ros Beiaard" from Dendermonde is probably one of the most known giants in the Belgian giant culture and dates back to the late 15th century. Even though in a lot of areas the giant culture has extinguished, this is not the case in Belgium. For the whole story you can continue reading on Reuzen in Vlaanderen (in Dutch).
The birth of a giant
Tradition states that giants are not made, but that they are actually born. This comes, most probably, from the Middle Ages when they were already used to make fantastic figures really come to life through the creation of a giant.
Of course there is a whole lot of work that precedes the birth of a giant. In this process I take care of the creation of the structure, both the bottom part, upper part and the arms. In addition comes the clothes, the head, and the actual people carrying the giant.
In Ath, in the French part of Belgium you can visit "La maison des Géants" (the House of Giants) where they have a whole collection and an exposition of the Belgian Giant culture. In the first stages of my work with giants, I got the opportunity by coincidence to create a structure of a giant for them. They ended up being very pleased with the result and ever since I've been bringing giants to life for private individuals, giant guilds, city and town councils, and many more.
Reuzen in Antwerpen .pdf
The Giants of Tienen
