Ellen Distave

Ostend lover and LILYETTE

° 27/11/1982, Ostend

Ellen Distave, born as a girl from the Fishermen’s Quay, with the city center and the promenade as her backyard. The sea and the beach give her oxygen and inspiration. Her pride for Ostend is so great that she almost takes it personally when someone says something negative about her city. With her business LILY, she not only wants to set up a successful enterprise but also help put Ostend on the map as a shopping city. From the start, Ellen has been actively involved with the city center management and The Economic House, where she works to help the city flourish further. Her heart skips a beat when she gets to participate in brainstorming sessions about Ostend, whether it’s about tourism, urban development, or events.

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Ellen loves to pause at the artwork “Pillage of the sea” (Beaufort21) by Rosa Barba. It’s a tower of stacked concrete sandbags on the beach in Mariakerke, and she finds it beautiful first and foremost. It never looks the same twice thanks to its location. At high tide, the tower stands unreachably far out in the sea; at low tide, you can walk right next to it. One time surrounded by dark skies and a dramatic sea, another time wonderfully calm or romantic with a sunset in the background. The fact that the artwork reminds her of the small piles of stones you encounter all over the world during hikes, and that it’s also a reminder of climate change, only increases Ellen’s admiration for this place.

More about ‘Pillage of the sea’

“I feel personally offended when someone says something bad about Ostend”

Ellen Distave

Ellen Distave

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