Van Damme statue unveiled

A statue of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme was unveiled in Anderlecht yesterday, in the presence of the man himself. The artwork, which depicts a younger incarnation of ‘the muscles from Brussels’ in a fighting pose, was commissioned to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Westland Shopping complex. The unveiling took place on Boulevard Sylvain Dupuis and was attended by Van Damme, his parents, Wallonia-Brussels culture minister Fadila Laanan and nearly 2,000 fans. Van Damme said the statue “represented the dream of a Brussels ketje (kid)” and was “for all the children who want something bad”, adding that “if you believe in something strongly enough, it can come true”.