Conferences

The BANAD Festival is returning to the Archiduc for the first time since 2018 – not, as on that occasion, for a burlesque evening, but for a talk dedicated to the legendary jazz café and Art Deco icon itself. Johan Ral is the master storyteller on duty and, just as he did in his recently published book *L’Archiduc Forever*, will be exploring the soul and identity of this exceptional venue. For once, the leading role is not reserved for the refined packet boat architecture, but rather for a ninety-year-old piano, numerous legendary musicians and, of course, the Archiduc’s most important ‘guardians’: jazz pioneer Stan Brenders and the current owners, Jean-Louis and Nathalie Hennart.

Johan Ral (1953) began his career as a journalist at the rock magazine RIFF and the weekly Knack, and as a producer, journalist and newsreader at the public broadcaster. He specialises in the history of popular music.