Press File Openning: 6 december 2013 Under the High Patronage of Their Majesties the King and the Queen Press service MUSEE FIN-DE-SIECLE MUSEUM BE CULTURE General Manager: Séverine Provost Project Coordinators: Charlotte Materne (FR) [email protected] - +32 (0)484 82 19 43 Lore Lambrechts (DU) [email protected] - +32 (0)478 43 66 67 T: (0)2 644 61 91 - [email protected] - www.beculture.be Communication & External Relations ROYAL MUSEUMS OF FINE ARTS OF BELGIUM Press - Barbara Porteman [email protected] - +32 (0)2 508 34 08 www.fine-arts-museum.be 1 SUMMARY 1. EDITORIAL BY MICHEL DRAGUET 3 2. PRESS RELEASE 7 3. MUSÉE FIN-DE-SIÈCLE MUSEUM, A BEACON OF BELGIAN HERITAGE 8 4. MUSÉE FIN-DE-SIÈCLE MUSEUM WITH EDUCATEAM 20 5. A TECHNICAL CHALLENGE 21 6. A UNIQUE MULTIDISCIPLINARY PARTNERSHIP 24 7. MUSEE FIN-DE-SIECLE MUSEUM AND BASE DESIGN 30 8. EUROPALIA INDIA 31 9. VISITOR INFORMATION 32 2 1. EDITORIAL BY MICHEL DRAGUET Many contemporary studies see a major role for culture and, more particularly, for cultural heritage, in the development of an economy in Europe in order to break out of the crisis. Characterized as “old” and aware of the need to develop an economy based on sustainable development, Europe has to draw a vital impulse from what makes it historically distinctive : a knowledge economy rooted in a heri- tage that brings together, within a single perspective, natural sites and the evidence of an unrivalled past. In 2009 the first edition of the Forum d’Avignon emphasized this dual aspect of the development of our territory that would combine sustainable development with the promotion of our cultural heritage. In this context it should be noted that the opening of the Magritte Museum in June 2009 contributed to lessening the impact of the economic crisis in Brussels. Several specific studies have shown that its opening had a stimulating effect. This success, which has led to a doubling of our visitor numbers, also represents a challenge: it makes the case for a redeployment of the federal collections in muse- um settings that will make the most of an inheritance that, from prehistory to contemporary art, both Belgian and from all over the world, forms a heritage of which we are the trustees on behalf of future generations: a showcase for our collections as a whole, a means of promoting scholarly research, an economic lever in a period of crisis, and an aid to the constitution of a European identity. These are our guiding principles. Today we are gathered for the opening of the Musée Fin-de-Siècle Museum, the second stage in this redeployment process. It is situated in the building that Philippe Roberts-Jones and Roger Bastin built as the lowest common denominator of a public opinion that at the time was reluctant to see the true value of modern art. Since February 2010 the museums carried out a series of works aiming at the improvement of the four floors from - 5 to - 8. These works were urgent; their postponement would have caused serious problems to the institution. In fact, the building did not get the necessary attention since 1989. The cli- matology, the heating system, electricity, security systems and floors have been renewed. So, with the support of the Belgian Buildings Agency (Régie des bâtiments), the Gillion Crowet family, and the Friends of the Royal Museums, we undertook these works, which have not only ensured that the buil- ding can meet modern standards, but also offered us the opportunity to redeploy the federal collecti- ons in a new way. The Musée Fin-de-Siècle Museum is a museum of modernism as it was described at the turn of the century in, for example, the pages of the magazine L’art moderne. The 19th century is presented as a key moment in the history of European culture and also as a foundation anticipating the future of Brus- sels as a crossroads and as the capital of a Europe under construction. A museum that will establish itself as one of the jewels of our heritage. But what is it about ? 3 This new museum provides a view of modernity which, at the start of the nineteenth century, had as- sumed a flowering of new forms to embrace the wave of new ideas and thoughts. The starting point of the project was the building, whose architectural solutions have been exploited without disrespect to its spirit. The light well has become an amphitheatre which, at the core of the museum, stirs memories of an architecture that has often received poor treatment in Brussels. The rooms have been renovated without giving in to a certain fashion for colourful effects and a revival of kitsch. On the contrary, we have maintained the modern principle that governed the conception of the building inaugurated in 1984. Whereas the walls are not completely white, they are an extension of a certain modernist ideal associated here with the late nineteenth century. This museum rests its validity on the thirty-one salons that drew the essence of European creativity to Brussels. The artists involved revolved around the creation of the Société Libre des Beaux-Arts and the city’s art circles which, as from 1868, introduced to Brussels the debate on modernity, the sense of which Charles Baudelaire had only shortly before examined in his Petits poèmes en prose that make up his book Le Spleen de Paris. Modernity, which was growing in vogue, was answered by a dynamic that drew attention within the modern milieu to criticism directed at what was referred to as the “would- be modern” illusion. Peripheral in comparison to the scene in Paris but central due to its role as a crossroads of Europe, the Belgian art world carried the modern movement forward in all its facets, from avant-garde frenzy to critical backlash. Providing an account of this artistic phenomenon called for a multidisciplinary approach that could only be provided by a partnership between the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, the Royal Library, the Royal Theatre La Monnaie/De Munt, the Royal Museums of Art and History, the Bibliotheca Wittockiana, the Royal Cinematography of Belgium and Belfius Bank, whose collections are demonstrative of the deep roots this fin-de-siècle culture had in Belgium. With our partners we have succeeded in creating an intense and incisive portrayal of this period. With the Gillion Crowet Collection, made possible by the Brussels Capital Region, this portrait has turned into a real spectacle. The collection is the material face of a collector’s passion for a certain historical period, and includes a series of masterpieces that are representative of the unity and creativity of this era. Whereas some would have liked to divide the collection up between the decorative and fine arts, the wish of Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet was to ensu- re that her selection of glassware, paintings, furniture and silverware remained in a single magnificent presentation, illustrative of the aspiration shared by all artists and craftsmen: to produce art that trans- figures reality. I would like to thank my colleagues whose boldness made this daring partnership possible: Mr Patrick Lefèvre, director general of the Royal Library; Mr Peter de Caluwe, director of the Royal Theatre La Monnaie/De Munt; Mr Michel Wittock, president of the Bibliotheca Wittockiana; M. Nicola Mazzanti, director of the Royal Cinematography of Belgium; and Mr Jos Clijsters, chairman of the management committee of Belfius Bank. I am also grateful to Mr Rudi Vervoort, minister-president of the govern- ment of the Brussels Capital Region, and Mr Guy Vanhengel, minister of the government of the Brus- sels Capital Region, in charge of finance, the budget, the civil service and external relations, and ad- ministrator of the Gillion Crowet donation instead of estate taxes in the new museum. 4 With the gratitude of a friend, I add to their names that of Mr Charles Picqué, who “imposed” this do- nation with force and conviction. I am happy to pay tribute here to this lover of art nouveau, who spared no trouble to ensure that the heritage of Brussels was enriched by this collection. I should also like to recognize the work carried out by the members of the committee who oversaw the donation – Pierre Dejemeppe, Anne-Sophie Walazyc, Pieter De Keyser and Guy Conde-Reis of the Brussel Ca- pital Region Frederik Leen of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, René Delcourt of the authority responsible for the federation’s scientific policy – Mr Gillion Crowet, the family’s representati- ve, and the experts Françoise Aubry and Pascale Vandervellen. Within the context of this donation, I would also like to show my gratitude to the deputy prime minister, Mr Didier Reynders, who, as finance minister, supported the donation project – completed in 2006 – from the first moment. I am also very obliged to those who followed the project within the institution. Inga Rossi-Schrimpf, project leader; Francisca Vandepitte and Dominique Marechal, curators; Sophie Van Vliet and Marie Decoodt, from the exhibitions department; Peter Vanhopplinus, head of the technical service and site supervisor; Maarten Lousbergh, head of security; Vinciane De Brouwer, in charge of financial ser- vices; Anne Goffart, in charge of communication; Isabelle Vanhoonacker, who directs the public ser- vices department; and Colette Janssens, in charge of support services. And through each of these managers I pay tribute to their teams who have worked with such zeal and efficiency. My thoughts also go to my colleagues in our partner institutions who have supported us and contributed to making this dream a reality.