Contemporary Art in Brussels for Some Years Now
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BE CONTEMPORARY BE.BRUSSELS Brussels has been a real crossroads for contemporary art for some years now. In the heart of Europe, the capital city has everything going for it: high-quality artists, numerous collectors, an international audience and great exhibition spaces. The combination of these various criteria is attracting a new wave of galleries, both national and international, which have come to set up in the capital. Thus, galleries, artists, private viewings, exhibitions and fairs are all contributing to the attractiveness and boundless vitality of the city and offering visitors the opportunity to share their passion for art. The WIELS Art Centre has also helped to put Brussels on the world map of contemporary art, while other art centres and private collections are also opening their doors. In the Belgian capital, contemporary art is alive and evolving in all its forms. It’s even spilling out onto the streets and walls of the city. Brussels also intends to fill a gap with the opening, scheduled for 2019, of a Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. This will probably be housed in a magnificent building with a surface area of 16,000 m² alongside the canal. On the following pages, you’ll find an overview of the various iconic places for contemporary art in Brussels: I. Museums and art centres II. Galleries III. Artists’ collectives IV. Outside the lines • Urban works • Street Art • Metro Art V. Guided tours VI. Events VII. Publications VIII. Contact 2 I. MUSEUMS AND ART CENTRES ARGOS, Centre for Art and Media Founded in 1989, ARGOS is a centre dedicated to the audiovisual and visual arts. The centre also pays particular attention to interactions with other artistic disciplines and considers and examines the development of the information society. ARGOS aims to be a place where artists and public can meet, talk and exchange ideas in an exploration of the connections between art and the media and their influence on our perception and understanding of the world. The centre offers various activities such as exhibitions and screenings, a public media library, the distribution of films and videos made by artists, the publication, production and archiving of visual works. Rue du Chantier 13 Werfstraat, 1000 Brussels Wed > Sun : 11.00 – 18.00 h T : +32 (0)2 229 00 03 www.argosarts.org Art )&( Marges Museeum Established 25 years ago as a centre for identifying and promoting outsider art, “Art en Marge” is now a museum. The artworks reflect the centre’s philosophy of promoting artists who remain in the shadows: mad or mentally disabled artists, and outsider artists with no means to access the professional art world. Some are staying in homes for mentally disabled people, in psychiatric hospitals; others practise or have practised various crafts: photographer, junk dealers, cobbler, musician, etc. Far from being a ‘ghetto’ museum, art)&(marges musée will be a place of exchange, a space for celebrating artists’ individualities, an art without ‘margins’. 312-314, rue Haute - 1000 Brussels Wed > Sun: 11h00 – 18h00 T: +32/(0) 2 533 94 90 http://www.artetmarges.be Atelier 34zero Muzeum Het Atelier 34zero Muzeum is een onafhankelijk kunstencentrum dat in 2014 opgericht is. Het herrees uit de as van het Atelier 340 Muzeum. Zijn belangrijkste roeping is de studie en promotie van de beeldhouwkunst en de driedimensionale kunst, zowel in België als in het buitenland. Atelier 34zero Muzeum organiseert 3 tot 4 tentoonstellingen per jaar in eigen ruimtes evenals evenementen extra muros. Drie types tentoonstellingen worden gerealiseerd: thematische, vergelijkende of confronterende, en persoonlijke (retrospectieven). 3 Drève de Rivieren 334, 1090 Bruxelles Tue > Sun : 14h00 - 19 h00 T. :+ 32 (0)2 428 33 06 http://www.atelier340muzeum.be/ B-Gallery B-Gallery is an exhibition space in the City of Brussels dedicated to contemporary creative works by young artists. Its objective is to enable several three-week solo exhibitions to be held (assistance with the production, producing invitations, private viewing, promotion, attendants). Each exhibition is covered by a professional photo-reportage. The artists, who live in Belgium, are selected on the basis of an invitation to submit projects, issued by the City of Brussels Department for Culture. This call for projects, circulated in art schools, specialist magazines and on the Websites of the City of Brussels, is aimed at young visual artists with a career spanning less than 10 years. They have to provide a dossier describing their project conceived for this exhibition venue, taking its specific characteristics into account. These dossiers are then analysed by a panel of professionals, who assess the suitability of the projects for the exhibition venue. Galerie Bortier, Rue Saint-Jean 17-19, 1000 Brussels Wed > Sat : 13.00 – 18.00 h (closed on public holidays) T : +32 (0)2 279 64 03 www.centrale-art.be Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain The Boghossian Foundation was set up in 1992 by Robert and his two sons Jean and Albert Boghossian, Lebanese jewellers of Armenian origin. The primary objective it set for itself was to contribute to the training and education of young people and to bring the cultures of East and West closer together. In 2006, the Boghossian Foundation acquired the Villa Empain, a jewel of Art Deco architecture in Brussels. Having become a Centre for Dialogue between the Cultures of East and West, Villa Empain now invites the public in, and, all year round, it holds exhibitions, conferences, international gatherings and many other activities. Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 67 – 1050 Brussels Every day from 10.00 till 18.30 h, except Mondays. T : +32 2 627 52 30 http://www.villaempain.com The Botanique From 1829 to 1939, the Botanique was a centre of botanical science and research. Nearly half a century later, it was converted into a place of culture and imagination and, in 1984, became the cultural centre for the French Community of Belgium. From the variety of disciplines explored in its early years, now, more than ever, it is dedicated to musical discoveries and visual art demonstrations. Today, every year, the Botanique presents more 4 than 200 concerts, some 300 groups and artists on stage and ten or so visual art exhibitions and activities, 30% of which are about photography. Rue Royale 236 Koningsstraat - 1210 Brussels Wed > Sun : p.m. – 20.00 h T : +32 (0)2 226 12 18 www.botanique.be BOZAR A place of pilgrimage for Brussels culture, the Centre for Fine Arts presents twenty or so themed or solo exhibitions a year, alternating the old masters and contemporary art, great collections, the treasures of various national heritages and supporting creative young talent. Quality and artistic variety are central to its mission. Bozar wants art to be more than an abstract object, to be a truly integral part of the “culture” of a society, particularly in a city as multicoloured and international as Brussels. And, so, it’s careful to ensure that the public can encounter art in a natural and lively way in the embrace of a strangely beautiful building that’s both imposing and intimate, a genuine Art Deco ‘palace’ designed by Horta. Rue Ravenstein 23 Ravensteinstraat - 1000 Brussels Tue > Sun : 10.00 – 18.00 h, Thu : 10.00 – 21.00 h T : +32 (0)2 507 82 00 www.bozar.be CAB CAB is a private centre dedicated to contemporary art. It promotes that genre by holding art projects in a splendid Art Deco exhibition space located not far from Flagey. CAB supports artists by giving them visibility in a place that’s neither an institution nor a gallery. It organises two projects a year, from September to December and from April to June, inviting a curator from a museum or gallery, Belgian or international. With its projects, CAB wants to encourage dialogue and inform the public about the emerging art scene. Rue Borrens 32-34 Borrensstraat - 1050 Brussels Wed > Sat : 12.00 - 18.00 h T : +32 (0)2 644 34 32 www.cab.be CENTRALE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART Centrale for Contemporary Art is the City of Brussels’ centre for that genre. It defines itself around the connection between art and society. Its identity is conveyed in terms of development, questioning and support for contemporary creation in the Brussels area from an international point of view. The objective of its programming based on the visual arts is to make culture accessible to everyone in order to dispel the elitist image of contemporary art. The inclusion of artists on the fringe of the official art circuits, the openness towards cultural minorities, the presentation of works that question the limits of art rather than 5 imposing a single interpretation of it, help to achieve this ambition. Alongside the exhibitions of the Centrale, C-box hosts exhibitions by young creative artists six times a year. This is a laboratory and experimentation venue showing contemporary young art in a new light for the public. Place Sainte-Catherine 44 - 1000 Brussels Tue > Sun : 10.30 – 18.00 h (closed on public holidays) T : +32 (0)2 279 64 52 www.centrale-art.be Charles Riva Collection The Charles Riva Collection is a private contemporary art collection located in a wonderful 19th-century manor house in the Louise district. Charles Riva began collecting contemporary art in the late nineties. With the collection growing ever larger, it became clear that a space was needed to exhibit it and share it with the public. The Collection puts on two exhibitions a year, each of which run for six months. Rue de la Concorde 21 Eendrachtstraat - 1050 Brussels Thu > Sat : 13.00 - 18.00 h T : +32 (0)2 503 04 98 www.charlesrivacollection.com ESPACE PHOTOGRAPHIQUE CONTRETYPE Contemporary Art Centre for Photography in Brussels Contretype is an association that was founded in 1978 by Jean-Louis Godefroid (1952- 2013).