Blootland

The musical group Blootland, originally from Dunkirk, was founded in the late 1980s. It has participated in many events related to marine singing thanks to their Flemish maritime repertoire, sung predominately in the local Flemish dialect.

The SOS Blootland association was established with the aim of defending and promoting the cultural heritage of maritime Flanders. SOS Blootland gave birth to the musical group Blootland, which largely contributed to the discovery of the songs of sailors on the French coasts. For 25 years, the association has published many discs, CDs and books related to the history and culture of Maritime Flanders. Anxious to bring the Flemish language to life, the association has joined the Flemish Regional Language Institute. It also hosts a bimonthly program on radio Uylenspiegel.

The group was formed in 1987 around the trio Jacques Yvart, Gérald Ryckeboer and Raymond Declerck with the publication of an LP entitled “Liedjes van de menschen van de Vlaemsche kusten” (Songs of the maritime populations of the coasts of Flanders) in which many musicians collaborated, including Joël Devos, who formed with Raymond Declerck called “Klerktje”, the duo of Flemish-speaking singers “Joël en Klerktje”.

These 4 musicians formed with Christian Declerck and the late Katrien Delavier, the “Blootland” maritime song group, focussing on the songs and traditions of  the coasts of Flanders, Brittany and elsewhere.

Their work resulted in the release of a L.P.: “Chants des Populations Maritimes des Côtes de Flandre” in 1988, whose success, although it was self-produced and self-distributed, brought its authors to the attention of the public.

Subsequently, the group was joined by;

Katrien DELAVIER, known as a harpist (especially in the Irish early music group HEMPSON with John Wright), who created most of the group’s arrangements, Christian Declerck (of the Irish music group CEILIDH, and Joël Devos, who accompanies Klerktje in his singing tour.

The group toured in most of the major French Marins Chant festivals (Brest, Douarnenez, Paimpol) up until the St Gilles-Croix de Vie and Hull (GB) festivals in 1998, after which Klerkt’je and Katrien left the group.

After a 3-year break, the group was joined in 2002 by Agnès CHAMLEY at the diatonic accordion, for a revival at the Oostduynkerke Festival, in Belgian Flanders.

Note: Blootland (from the Dutch bloot- (bare or naked) and -land (country), literally “the naked country”, as opposed to neighbouring Houtland) is a French natural region. It corresponds to the part of the Flemish maritime plain located in French Flanders, i.e. the northern part of the French Westhoek (which largely corresponds to the district of Dunkirk).