Tom Hautekiet was one of those people...

There are some people you really look forward to running into when you get out to stretch your legs. Tom Hautekiet was one of those people. Hard to say why. But it was always a joy. There was always the twinkle of curiosity in his eyes. Something excited. As if he was always thinking in colour. Vibrant colour, for sure. As that is what you saw in his highly recognizable artwork, time and time again.

It’s no coincidence then that his artwork adorned a number of our favourite Belgian albums: Zita Swoon’s ‘I Paint Pictures on A Wedding Dress’ or the albums of Think Of One or that - oh so fine - ‘Duveltjeskermis’ by Esmé Bos & Bart Voet, and also ‘De Hemel In Het Klad’ by Bart Peeters.

And then we haven’t even mentioned the colourful covers of El Tattoo Del Tigre! It’s no coincidence that all these artists have landed on our stage. Including Tom himself, as he was a percussionist with his more than 20-member strong mambo band that sold out the Main Hall no less than four times.

Tom had even designed the new cycling suits for the 1000km van Kom Op Tegen Kanker and would have been riding in one of them this year too. Fate took a turn though.

Your sudden and entirely unexpected passing – not in the least, at this time – has drawn a dark cloud over our head. Whereby all the colour ebbs away. The cover of ‘Blackened Cities’ – with that oh so fantastic photo by Stefaan Vanfleteren – is most suited to this moment. You provided the graphic design for this Melanie De Biasio gem. It seemed as though you only ever attracted beautiful and pure people. Or maybe you only accepted work from those who bestowed you beauty. That would seem doubly symbolic to us.

We wish you well. You will be missed. Because you were one of those people.

Kurt Overbergh (Artistic Director)
 

Tom Hautekiet, who passed away suddenly last week, was a very welcome guest at AB. For years now, he cycled with our teams for the 1000km voor Kom Op Tegen kanker. Bruno and Eric (AB Café) also lose a loyal cycling buddy. On behalf of AB, we wish Tom’s family & friends much strength at this time.