The centenary of Bozar: our cultural neighbour has good reason to celebrate!

BNP Paribas Fortis was established 200 years ago, Bozar 100 years ago. We are celebrating our bicentenary, Bozar its centenary. This forges a bond between us. More importantly, however, Bozar is also one of our major cultural partners, so when the Centre for Fine Arts celebrates an anniversary, we are more than happy to pop in for a visit. Ann Geeraerts takes me on a tour of the Project Palace exhibition. So is this an exhibition about the history of this art institution? “No, not really”, says Geeraerts, "The exhibition looks at the past, present and future, it has a much broader scope. Starting with the anniversary date, because the Centre for Fine Arts was officially inaugurated in 1928. However, the articles of association of the Centre for Fine Arts were only signed in 1922, so the dream of a major art house started there and then."

The artist invites

"What is the role of an institution like Bozar today? That’s the premise we started from for this centenary celebration... Essentially, we invited ten contemporary artists to the anniversary party, who all created new works of art for the exhibition. They have also all brought a 'guest'... in other words: they were told they could bring a 'plus one', meaning they could reinvite someone from the past, an artist whose work was once exhibited here, a musician who performed here, or someone who gave a dance performance... a piece of Bozar’s rich history."

The essence of Horta's architecture

For the scenography, only light was used and no partitions were erected... What’s more, all unnecessary partitions were removed. "In one of the first galleries, we removed old fake walls to reveal the essence of Horta’s architecture. Our intention is to preserve the downstairs gallery as is for the future – drawing attention to the original red floor and the elegant staircase."

Find out more about Project Palace, a centenary celebration | Bozar Brussels
Until 21 July 2022.