Verschueren wears his "portable oasis" while performing in a street, saying he wanted to be in his bubble in the middle of the city, amid the pandemic outbreak in Brussels. Photo: Reuters
When governments around Europe told people to create a "bubble" to limit their social contacts during the Covid-19 pandemic, this was probably not what they had in mind.
Alain Verschueren, a Belgian artist and social worker, has been strolling through the capital Brussels wearing a "portable oasis" - a plexiglass mini-greenhouse which rests on his shoulders, cocooning him in a bubble of air purified by the aromatic plants inside.