Flanders Celebrates the Year of Jan Van Eyck Virtually

A cameraman films the restored original of 'Adoration Of The Mystic Lamb' altarpiece (1432) by the brothers and Flemish artists Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) in Ghent, Belgium. Photo: AFP
A cameraman films the restored original of 'Adoration Of The Mystic Lamb' altarpiece (1432) by the brothers and Flemish artists Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) in Ghent, Belgium. Photo: AFP
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Flanders Celebrates the Year of Jan Van Eyck Virtually

A cameraman films the restored original of 'Adoration Of The Mystic Lamb' altarpiece (1432) by the brothers and Flemish artists Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) in Ghent, Belgium. Photo: AFP
A cameraman films the restored original of 'Adoration Of The Mystic Lamb' altarpiece (1432) by the brothers and Flemish artists Hubert van Eyck and Jan van Eyck at the Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK) in Ghent, Belgium. Photo: AFP

If the world has not closed due to the spread of the Corvid-19 virus, Belgium would now be celebrating the year of Jan van Eyck by holding exhibitions, concerts, theater performances and festivals.

On this occasion, the Flanders region had organized many events including a major exhibition of Jan van Eyck in Ghent, reported AFP.

Before closing its doors in line with the lockdown measures aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus, the exhibition dubbed "Van Eyck: Optical Revolution" held at the fine arts museum in Ghent received 130,000 visitors since its opening on February 1. Now, the museum offers art lovers the chance to enjoy the works of the Flemish artist despite the pandemic-related measures through a number of guided virtual tours.

Historian and curator expert Till-Holger Borchert recruited all his knowledge in the guidance of the virtual tour across the "stay home exhibition" on the vaneyck.2020be website.

According to the organizes, only around 20 of works of Van Eyck, a leading figure of early Netherlandish painting, are popular, and the "Van Eyck: Optical Revolution" features 13 of them, which make it the biggest exhibition displaying the artist's works.



Japan Post to Stop Delivery of Live Reptiles 

A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Japan Post to Stop Delivery of Live Reptiles 

A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)

Japan Post will not deliver live reptiles starting from April on animal welfare grounds, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Customers had raised concerns and animal rights activists had criticized the service online, the spokeswoman for the nationwide postal service told AFP.

"After consulting with the government... we came to realize that shipping animals in an environment where temperature control and food are unavailable can amount to animal abuse," she said.

From April 1, Japan Post -- which already does not allow mammals or birds to be sent by mail -- will not deliver reptiles through any parcel or other postal services, the spokeswoman added.