ANNUAL REPORT 2007 - Bozar.be

ANNUAL
REPORT
2007
Candida Höfer - The Brussels Series

I. Crossing boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
II. A wide range of styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
- BOZAR FESTIVAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
- BOZAR MUSIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
- BOZAR EXPO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
- BOZAR ARCHITECTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
- BOZAR THEATRE, DANCE, LITERATURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
- BOZAR CINEMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
- BOZAR STUDIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
III. Friends of BOZAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
IV. BOZAR and its audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
V. Behind the scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
VI. Management and policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
VII. Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Photos :
Danielle D’Haese
Mikaël Falke
Koenraad Impens
Julien Lanoo
Lydie Nesvadba
Vinciane Pierart
Olivier Rouxhet

I Crossing
boundaries

Crossing boundaries
Dialogue, exchanges, creative fusion: the general theme for the BOZAR
programme in 2007 was crossing boundaries. And quite literally so.
During the year the world came a little bit closer. Visitors to the Centre
for Fine Arts could travel thousands of kilometres in their imagination
and make wonderful discoveries without leaving Brussels. This year’s
line-up included a comfortable excursion through old and new European
member states, a voyage of discovery with 16 th century Portuguese
adventurers and a chance to learn to appreciate the delicate symbolism
of traditional Chinese art.
The exhibition The Forbidden Empire was a high point of the
season at many different levels. It was preceded by lengthy diplomatic
negotiations between China and different Belgian authorities. Luc
Tuymans developed the concept together with the curator Yu Hui,
based on a sensitivity and sophistication which you only find in true
artists. The outcome was not a radical clash between two traditions, but
a subtle exploration of differences and connections. Five centuries of art
from China and from the Southern Netherlands were exhibited side by
side in a surprising and illuminating way.
With Balkan Trafik, the Centre for Fine Arts entered a very popular
field. Balkan rhythms have become an export product. Gipsy music
with its blaring brass instruments and emotions, swinging backwards
and forwards between melodrama and tristesse, is being increasingly
remixed and sampled. During a packed two-day festival, young groups
moved virtually directly from the underground scene to the big stage.
The top performance was Forgive me, is this the way to the Future?, a
work commissioned from the Serbo-Croat musician Goran Bregovic
by a number of European concert halls. For his European premiere
he borrowed from many sources of inspiration. His musical letters to
three religious traditions were received as a celebration of reconciliation
across the borders and musical tastes. Bregovic produced a powerful
praise song to the universal in human experience.
Portugal provided the topic for a rich and diverse festival with art,
literature, music, film, architecture and dance. The Centre for Fine
Arts has a conscious strategy of erasing the boundaries between the
different disciplines in-house. Encounters between various creative and
artistic voices had a mutually reinforcing effect. The festival became an
exchange of knowledge, arts and ideas from the 16 th century to today.
With a selection of exquisite art objects, the exhibition Encompassing the
Globe clearly showed how the Portuguese were the first to try to bring
the world together.

I. Crossing boundaries

A message from
Étienne Davignon,
Chairman of the Board
of Directors
Learning from the past
A new legal structure and a young but experienced director, a wideranging
cultural project, stronger and reorganized teams, clearly defined
missions and priorities, an architectural heritage to be restored and
renovated, a public to attract and satisfy … When it opened its doors
on 1 January 2002, the new Centre for Fine Arts faced a series of notto-be-underestimated
challenges. The most difficult of these was to
meet them all simultaneously, as every measure had a knock-on effect
on everything else.
Anyone who has been following developments over the last six years
will be familiar with the adventurous and exciting history, an audacious
enterprise but a successful one. At the end of the first mandate of
the Director-General Paul Dujardin, the main objectives have been
achieved. Rather than an ending point, this is but a stop on the way, or
a starting point for the future. This future takes the form of a new sixyear
mandate, starting on 1 January 2008 and enabling us to continue
on the same path.
As in previous years, the Centre for Fine Arts’ remit is to provide a
public service which endeavours to move with the times, both as regards
its cultural vision at an international level and the essential adaptations
which are necessary for it to be more productive, more securely
rooted and user-friendly. Two important restoration stages have been
completed, the large northern exhibition circuit and the BOZARSHOP
on the Rue Ravenstein. The excavation works for the new rooms of the
Royal Belgian Film Archive and the redefinition of the Film Museum
are continuing and should be completed in 2008.
has been following since its opening, appeared even more relevant than
in the first six years. The Centre for Fine Arts really has become the
‘meeting place for all the arts’ as a result of the continued emphasis
on multidisciplinarity and ‘transversality’, as demonstrated by the
Portugal Festival. The eclectic nature of the programme has ‘lowered
the threshold for the general public’, by ungrudgingly offering items
that are more accessible to it. Our million visitors are living proof
of this. We also entered ‘quality partnerships’ with a large number
of players in the Belgian cultural field, like the Queen Elisabeth
Competition, the KlaraFestival and the Halles de Schaerbeek, as well
as foreign organizations like the Smithsonian Institute and the Natural
World Museum. With the German and Portuguese programming, the
Europalia Festival and the ‘architectural vision for the capital of Europe’,
we not only laid the foundations for the cultural Europe of the future,
but actually participated in its creation.
2007 was an outstanding year in terms of maintaining the good
governance that has been in place since 2002, witness the good industrial
relations and the financial balance of the institute. Artistically speaking
we reached a new peak in terms of number of activities. Our international
image has increased significantly as a result of our contacts, productions
and co-productions abroad, like Magritte and The Forbidden Empire in
Beijing, Encompassing the Globe in Washington, Ingenium in Lisbon or
Melting Ice in Oslo, as well as Views on Europe in Munich.
The financial accounts for 2007 and our assessment of the first mandate
of our Director-General and his team point in the same direction.
Together they form the ideal basis for a new leap forward of the Centre
for Fine Arts between now and 2014.
In 2007 the four main policy lines that the new Centre for Fine Arts

I. Crossing boundaries
Photo : Julien Lanoo
Paul Dujardin,
Director-General
Combining our strengths
A remit of an institution like the Centre for Fine Arts, of providing an
international cultural image at both national and international level, is
a challenge that cannot be met unaided. If the Centre for Fine Arts is
once again ‘up to speed’, it owes this to its solid internal structure, and to
being able to count on extensive outside assistance and collaboration.
The confidence and the support given by the Board of Directors under
the Chairmanship of Viscount Davignon has allowed us to take some
good decisions during the course of this year and to advance our general
project. For this I would like to extend to them my sincerest thanks.
The investments and our balanced budget would not have been possible
without the intervention of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, Deputy
Prime Minister and Justice Minister Ms Laurette Onkelinx, Deputy
Prime Minister and Justice Minister Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime
Minister and Budget Minister Ms Freya Van den Bossche, and without
the participation of the Beliris Fund (federal-regional cooperation),
via the government of the Brussels Capital Region. We would like to
express our profound gratitude to all of them.
The activities carried out in co-production with our usual cultural
partners or in collaboration with others, provided unity in diversity.
They represented a quality advantage which contributed to the great
diversity of our cultural offering. In every field we could count on
cultural and financial cooperation from outside Belgium, with the
support of Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel De Gucht and in particular
with the cooperation of the authorities responsible for cultural and
international relations in China, Germany and Portugal. To them too
we would express our profound gratitude.
As behoves its international level, our programme confirmed our main
priorities with classical concerts, jazz, world music and even rock. In
addition to large exhibitions of ancient and modern art, particular
attention was paid to current Belgian creativity. The film events were
of high quality, as were the architectural programme and the literary
activities. The dramatic arts too were well represented, both as solo
events and as part of multidisciplinary formulas. In all an enormous
programme of 5,480 activities.
The resulting dynamism is marking out a path for the future. It is a path
we are determined to continue on, with total dedication, in order to
ensure the future of the Centre for Fine Arts.
But we also owe our success to our home team, that is 365 employees who
are responsible for the administrative management, the building, and
the cultural programming of this great multidisciplinary centre, a body
of tasks taken on entirely by the institute itself. As well as the cultural
side, I would also emphasise the work carried out, in collaboration with
the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen, by the site managers,
architects, foremen and technicians. With their help we are continuing
with the renovation work to provide a building in which we can work
effectively whilst respecting the heritage it represents.

Jan Lauwers and Needcompany, Deconstruction ©Needcompany/Luc Galle
II. Een waaier aan stijlen

II A wide range
of styles

BO
ZAR
FES
TI
VAL!
All the genres which come together: in the
Centre for Fine Arts, transversality is not
an empty term. The artistic programme is
constantly looking for opportunities for crosspollination
which place every project in a broader
context.
In some cases this broader context comes from the artists themselves
because they often no longer restrict themselves to a single medium. In
other cases a geographical aspect can form the starting point.
In 2006 the India Festival could certainly be considered a huge success,
both in terms of the number of visitors to the event and as regards the
reviews in the press. The festival ended beautifully in January 2007
with some important events. A ‘Spiritual India’ weekend went on an
exploratory trip through the spiritual heritage of India via music, dance
and poetry. Sharmila Roy, known for the music for the film Mahabharata
by Peter Brook, sang compositions of Rabindranath Tagore. Navtej
Johar danced to Sufi texts. The Baûls, wandering musicians from Bengal
(also known as ‘God’s crazy men’) shouted out the beauty. In the Centre
for Fine Arts and exceptionally also under the starry sky of the Brussels
Planetarium, the audience heard dhrupad, music based on a recital of
the Vedas.
The highpoint of the India Festival was a concert with virtuoso
percussionists such as Zakir Hussain, Viku Vinayakram and the Drums
of Manipur.
The German presidency of the Council of the European Union was
represented in the Centre (and in the ING Cultural Centre on the Place
royale/Koningsplein) by no fewer than two important exhibitions.
10

II. A wide range of styles
On the fringe a German Spring blossomed in Brussels: music, poetry,
literature, dance and theatre were all directly linked to the themes of
the exhibitions. BOZAR MUSIC explored the romantic repertoire,
for example, with the Lieder of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms,
Beethoven’s piano concerts, symphonic music by Brahms, Mahler and
Bruckner. The contemporary German cultural scene was represented
with productions by the choreographer/dancer Antje Pfundtner.
Pfundtner combines dance and the spoken word. She flatters people’s
vanity and does this in a very recognizable way. An evening of dance brought
together several dancers and the choreographer Martin Nachbar.
BOZAR THEATRE invited one of Germany’s most prestigious
companies, the Münchner Kammerspiele, for the Belgian premiere of
Die Zehn Gebote (The Ten Commandments). The director Johan Simons
based this on the eponymous film by the Polish filmmaker Krzysztof
Kieslowski.
stars such as Mariza, Mísia and Maria de Medeiros. Mafalda Arnauth
performed a contemporary version. Sarah Tavares and Tito Paris came
from Cape Verde with heartwarming music which refuses to make a
choice between Europe and Africa.
At the invitation of BOZAR LITERATURE authors came to Brussels
from Brazil (João Ubaldo Ribeiro and Paulo Lins), Angola (José Eduardo
Agualusa) and East Timor (Luis Cardoso), in anticipation of guest
lectures by authors from the mother country with which the festival
concluded in 2008.
BOZAR THEATRE presented a mixture of theatre, gastronomy,
science and concerts with Banquete (directed and conceived by Patricia
Portela).
BOZAR DANCE confronted the students of the PARTS dance school
with the electronic jazz improvisation of the Portuguese ensemble
Granular.
BOZAR CINEMA invited Werner Herzog for the presentation of
a documentary, Little Dieter learns to fly. The installation Kristall by
Matthias Müller and Christoph Girardet meditated on the theme
of mirrors in classic films. Finally BOZAR LITERATURE brought
together six lectures in the context of Literatuur op de Middag
(Literature at Lunchtime) under the common title, Germany’s grand
century.
India Festival
Portugal and the World, a festival in the context of the Portuguese
presidency of the Council of the European Union, explored the cultural
mix and the confrontations which resulted from the Portuguese voyages
of discovery, the traces of which exist up to the present day. First
and foremost in music: the boundless melancholy of ‘being at home
everywhere and nowhere’ can still be heard in fado. BOZAR MUSIC
brought traditional fado from Coïmbra, as well as contemporary
11

BO
ZAR
MU
SIC
Paul Van Nevel and Huelgas Ensemble
© Huelgas Ensemble
The project
The Centre for Fine Arts has a long tradition of
varied and high quality concerts. Well-known
names appear in the programme side by side with
fresh young talent.
BOZAR MUSIC would like music fans to enjoy
their favourite repertoire and the most popular
artists, as well as pointing them towards the
unknown. In addition to classical music, other
genres are also increasingly included.
The concerts – BOZAR MUSIC organizes
about 250 per year – take place in the Centre
for Fine Arts itself, or in other venues, such as
the Minimes Church and the Conservatory.
There is a clear line and continuity in the
programme. The season is built around themes
and residences, which provide added depth.
Audiences appreciate the range of styles and
the broad horizon, as is revealed by the evergrowing
numbers. In addition, the BOZAR
MUSIC programme is also highly regarded at the
European level.
Activities
The 2007 programme included thirty subscription series and ten free
series.
Symphony orchestras The Belgian orchestras continue to have
a strong presence in the programme as loyal partners. Three of these
orchestras have welcomed a new artistic director. In September 2007,
Walter Weller replaced Mikko Franck as the leader of the National Orchestra
of Belgium (NOB). In the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège
(OPL) Pascal Rophé took the place of his fellow countryman Louis
Langrée. In the Monnaie/Munt Mark Wigglesworth replaced Kazushi
Ono; during the 2007-2008 season the two leaders are both still conducting
symphony concerts.
The constant efforts made by these orchestras – and this applies equally
for deFilharmonie, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe and Daniele
Callegari – have achieved results and are greatly appreciated by the public.
One of the advantages of the public success is the presence of important
soloists: former winners of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition,
such as Yuzuko Horigome, Severin von Eckardstein, Abdel Rahman
El Bacha, revelations such as the young violinists Arabella Steinbacher
and Patricia Kopatchinskaja, as well as established names such as Boris
Berezovsky, Elisabeth Leonskaya and great Belgian soloists, such as
Bernard Lemmens.
There have been regular guest appearances by the most prestigious
foreign orchestras: the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Daniele
Gatti, the Berliner with Simon Rattle, the Cleveland Orchestra, the
Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the London Symphony Orchestra
with its new permanent conductor Valery Gergiev, the Saint-
Petersburg Philharmonic with Yuri Temirkanov, and the Amsterdam
Concertgebouw Orchestra with Mariss Jansons.
12

II. A wide range of styles
1.
2.
3.
1. Philippe Herreweghe © Miel Pieters
2. Magdalena Kozena © Kasskara / DG
3. Vadim Repin © Kasskara / DG
Recitals Pianists, violinists, cellists and singers: legendary performers
have played in the Centre for Fine Arts, such as Alfred Brendel, Itzhak
Perlman, Grigory Sokolov and Radu Lupu, former winners of the Queen
Elisabeth Music Competition who have now gone on to have glittering
careers, such as Gidon Kremer and Vadim Repin, young stars such as
Evgeny Kissin and Matthias Goerne.
Audiences in the Conservatory have had the chance to discover the
improbable talent of young artists, such as Patricia Kopatchinskaja,
Leonidas Kavakos and Laurent Korcia. Established names, such as
Pieter Wispelwey and Heinrich Schiff have also performed there.
Chamber music The Alban Berg Quartet played its penultimate
concert in Brussels. After the death of the viola player, the ensemble
decided to stop playing together in May 2008.
The viola player Tabea Zimmermann and her Arcanto Quartet
performed in the Conservatory with a mini-festival of three concerts,
consisting of the quintessence of chamber music. This cycle also
featured other top ensembles: the Hagen Quartet, Artemis Quartet,
Takacs Quartet, Pavel Haas Quartet (talented Rising Stars). In
November 2007 Andras Schiff and the Quatuor Mikrokosmos (which
consists of four of the best Hungarian soloists) devoted three evenings
to Bartók. These included his six string quartets, top works in that
genre, as well as works for solo piano.
Early music and baroque music In the intimate setting of the
Minimes Church audiences were given an opportunity to enjoy attractive
programmes of early music and baroque music, including the Ricercar
Consort, La Petite Bande, the Choeur de Namur (with a concert for
the twentieth anniversary of this excellent ensemble), Stylus Phantasticus
(in a co-production with the Printemps Baroque du Sablon), the
Daedalus ensemble.
BOZAR MUSIC devoted several concerts to Buxtehude on the occasion
of the three hundredth anniversary of his death. No other concert hall
in Europe celebrated this anniversary in such detail. The organ cycle
covered Buxtehude’s complete works, with Bernard Foccroulle at the
organ. At the beginning of May four concerts were grouped together in
a single weekend.
The harpsichordists Laurent Stewart, Nicolau de Figueiredo and the
duo Skip Sempé and Olivier Fortin played in the Protestant Chapel,
as did the lute player Hopkinson Smith. Familiar partners made an
appearance in the cycle of early music: Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas
Ensemble (in a co-production with Flagey), Jos Van Immerseel and
Anima Eterna, Philippe Pierlot and the Ricercar Consort, La Petite
Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken.
In 2007 there were three artists in residence, spread over two seasons.
Skip Sempé performed as a harpsichordist and conductor with his
ensemble Capriccio Stravagante and the Belgian baroque orchestra
B’rock. The high point of this residency was the big production La
Pellegrina, which was recorded in the Henry Le Boeuf Hall. Pierre
Hantaï played the harpsichord in his ensemble Le Concert français.
Lorenzo Ghielmi played the organ and the harpsichord and made
an appearance with his ensemble La Divina Armonia. Ghielmi and
Hantaï were also guests of the Bach Academy, an initiative of Philippe
Herreweghe in co-production with BOZAR MUSIC, deSingel in
Antwerp and the Concertgebouw in Bruges. Herreweghe was in
residence in the Conservatory with his ensemble Collegium Vocale
for master classes, concerts and conferences.
Vocal music The greatest vocal masterworks, particularly baroque
and classical music, attracted large audiences to the Centre for Fine
Arts: Vivaldi (Tito Manlio), by the Accademia Bizantina, Rossini (Tancredi)
by René Jacobs and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, Händel
(Jephta) by Opera Fuoco. William Christie and his Arts Florissants also
made an appearance, first with the young singers of Le Jardin des Voix,
13

The Italian mezzosoprano Cecilia
Bartoli is a regular guest at the
Centre for Fine Arts. In 2007 she
performed a programme based on
her illustrious predecessor, Maria
Malibran.
Photo © Universal/Decca Music
Group
Cecilia Bartoli
‘I always like returning to the Palais des
Beaux-Arts, but this season was especially
moving for me because of the homage to
Maria Malibran, who lived in Brussels for
some time and is buried there. When in
December the aria Mendelssohn wrote for
Maria and Charles de Bériot resounded
in this hall for the first time ever and a
movement from a Bériot concerto resounded
probably for the first time in over a hundred
and fifty years played by period instruments, I
was truly overwhelmed. I was also particularly
pleased by the support and interest of the
Belgians which made a repeat of this concert
possible! So, another sold-out concert could
take place in March – one week before
the actual bicentenary of Maria Malibran!
Therefore, this was a particularly meaningful
and moving season for me in Brussels, and
I hope for you too. I am looking forward to
coming back very soon.’
then with Haydn’s Creation. John Eliot Gardiner, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire
et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir performed beautiful
programmes of Bach and Brahms. Two brilliant voices stood out in
the cycle of vocal music: Magdalena Kozena and Cecilia Bartoli.
Contemporary music Ars Musica continues to be an important
partner, as do the ensembles Ictus and Musiques Nouvelles. The pianist
Pierre-Laurent Aimard played a programme of music by the composer
George Benjamin in Studio 4 in Flagey. The cooperative venture
ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) came to Brussels with
two special productions: Forgive me, is this the way to the Future? by Goran
Bregovic and his Wedding and Funeral Band, with Kristjan Järvi and
the Absolute Ensemble. In December Jan Fabre produced his work I
am a mistake, (text, choreography and scenography) for which Wolfgang
Rihm wrote the music and Chantal Akerman showed a film.
Events The German presidency of the European Union was officially
concluded by the Bayerisches Staatsorchester conducted by Kent
Nagano. Following the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome
in March, the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg played
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by Emmanuel Krivine.
As usual, the season started with the KlaraFestival: a programme of
gala concerts in cooperation with the Festival of Flanders and Klara.
The invitees included prestigious orchestras, such as the Philharmonic
Orchestra of Israel with Zubin Mehta, the World Orchestra for Peace
with Valery Gergiev, the pianist Boris Berezovsky in a programme of
Russian music, Rafal Blechac in a recital devoted entirely to Chopin. The
first season of the director of the Monnaie/Munt, Peter De Caluwe, also
started during the Festival with the monumental Gurrelieder, conducted
by Mark Wigglesworth.
As in August 2006, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra again visited
Brussels. This orchestra of young musicians of Jewish and Arabic origin
14

II. A wide range of styles
1.
was conducted by Daniel Barenboim. It was a moving concert in a
packed concert hall.
Dimanche au Mont des Arts/Kunstberg op Zondag
The Sunday morning concerts in the context of Dimanche au Mont des
Arts introduced the audience to talented performers from Belgium and
abroad. It is a series of good quality performances presented in an accessible
formula. Opportunities are given to Rising Stars in cooperation
with ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation). The cellist Christian
Poltera and the pianist Polina Leschenko concluded the season at
the end of June. The tenth anniversary of the Sunday morning concerts
was celebrated in September with former Rising Stars, Yossif Ivanov,
Marie Hallynck and Ronald Van Spaendonck.
Music and Poetry This cycle took listeners on a trip to the India
of Rabindranath Tagore (during the weekend on spirituality concluding
the India Festival), to the Ancient Greece of Sappho (an evening with
Angélique Ionatos) and the romantic universe of Friedrich Hölderlin (in
the context of the Views on Europe exhibition.)
and classical Chinese music (three old masters in a solo performance).
Jazz was well represented by Kris Defoort, Archie Shepp, Sonny Rollins
and Woody Allen. In the space of two days the Balkan Trafik! Festival
attracted more than three thousand young people. In a festive mood
they danced to and enjoyed brass bands and contemporary music from
the south of Eastern Europe.
The autumn was devoted to Portuguese music with fado from Coïmbra,
Sara Tavares in a double concert with Tito Paris, and Mariza sold out
the Henry Le Boeuf Hall.
A Congo day with workshops, lectures, documentaries, films, shows and
concerts (Kasaï Allstars) was seen as the highpoint of the Congolese
autumn in the context of the Yambi project.
The Moussem festival in November attracted both new young
movements and established names such as Sabah Fakhri from the Arabspeaking
world. Music was combined with documentaries, theatre and
contemporary dance.
2.
1. Woody Allen © Sygma - 2. Kasaï All Stars
World music World music has been given an important place in
the Centre for Fine Arts. Themed series, festivals and days devoted to
special themes attracted more than 16,000 interested listeners to the
Centre.
The concluding weekend of the India Festival took place in January
2007, with a focus on the mysticism of the Bauls, the poetry of Tagore
and the meditation of the dhrupad. The latter was a double concert and
a film projected in the Planetarium. The Henry Le Bœuf Hall was the
stage for a feast of percussion conducted by Zakir Hussain.
In the spring there was a series of three concerts of Chinese music. This
included popular music (with the Shanghaï Teahouse Ensemble), as well
as contemporary music (with improvisations by the Min WuXu trio)
15

BO
ZAR
EX
PO
The project
The multifaceted programming of the BOZAR
EXPO department focuses strongly on current
topics. Historical, modern and contemporary
exhibitions alternate with each other. Video,
film and digital technology also have a place.
Installations and exhibitions are found
comfortably side by side. The Victor Horta
building, a source of inspiration for many, has a
series of rooms which can be adapted to today’s
multiple requirements.
Activities
In 2007 there was once again a rich and diverse programme, with
seventeen exhibitions, two of which were extra muros. The cooperation
with China (The Forbidden Empire and Magritte) deserves a special
mention.
The Forbidden Empire
Visions of the World by Chinese and Flemish Masters
From 15 February to 6 May
Two continents, five centuries of painting and drawing – two ways of
relating to images. The Belgian artist Luc Tuymans and Yu Hui, curator
of the Palace Museum in Beijing, started a dialogue between art from
the Southern Netherlands and China. Drawings and paintings from the
15 th to the early 20 th century, e.g., by Van Eyck, Brueghel, Rubens, Van
Dyck, Jordaens, Ensor, Mellery and Spilliaert were united with works
on paper and silk from the Ming and Qing dynasties and the start of the
Chinese Republic.
Luc Tuymans: “Via the visual image we are trying to open up the
dialogue without detracting from either of the traditions. We work
with ‘interpunctions’: two groups of images, for example, from Chinese
art, are interrupted by a western work.”
The exhibition The Forbidden Empire gave the old masters a new lease
of life, and served as a bridge to the next group of contemporary art.
After the Centre for Fine Arts, the exhibition travelled to the Palace
Museum. Luc Tuymans is preparing the second theme of this exhibition
on contemporary art in China for Europalia-China in 2009. This
exhibition will also travel to Beijing in 2010.
Curators: Yu Hui en Luc Tuymans • Coordinator: Anne Judong • Production:
BOZAR EXPO and The Palace Museum, Beijing • Catalogue: The Forbidden
Empire. Visions of the World by Chinese and Flemish Masters, BOZAR BOOKS
by Mercatorfonds, Brussels, 2007, 207 pp.; a French and Dutch edition of the
book were published at this occasion. • Subsidy/sponsorship: The Flemish
and Belgian federal governments and the Ministry of Culture of China • Venue:
Rue Royale/Koningsstraat Circuit • Entrance: ¤ 7.00 • Visitors: 44,323
San Keller: installation, Clever and Smart
© Philippe De Gobert
16

II. A wide range of styles
Anonymous, The Imperial Concubine of
Emperor Hongli, ca. 1750, Palace Museum,
Beijing.
The Archives of Imagination
Focus on the masses
From 17 February to 25 March
The FotoMuseum Antwerpen has several thousand glass negatives
dating from the late 1940s and 1950s. They come from the archives of
the Antwerp newspaper Volksgazet.
In comparison with the masterworks of journalism of that time by Henri
Cartier-Bresson or David Seymour, these photographs may appear
modest. But this ‘humanist’ photography has an eye for the masses, and
in this way explores the poetry of everyday life.
Curator: Pool Andries • Coordinator: Frank Vanhaecke • Production: BOZAR
EXPO and the FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen • Subsidy/sponsorship:
FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen and the National Lottery • Venue: Ravenstein
Circuit • Entrance: free of charge
Jan Lauwers
Restlessness
From 2 March to 6 May
Jan Lauwers (1957) is a visual artist, and a theatre and film director. His
theatre productions with Needcompany are internationally acclaimed
as groundbreaking productions. Up to now he has only occasionally
shown his visual art. With this first solo exhibition, he opened his studio
to the public.
The exhibition Restlessness focused on his visual art from 1996 to 2006.
It was accompanied by events which reflect the multidisciplinary
character of Lauwers’ work and the Needcompany.
As Jan Lauwers says himself, he is ‘just an artist’, active in different
disciplines. In a world which has returned to a ‘superficial realism’
in order to survive and exist, Jan Lauwers stubbornly stakes out an
idiosyncratic territory with words and images. Hysteria, the absurd, the
inexpressible, freedom and despair coincide there and can even form a
unity.
For two evenings he invited associated artists – ‘just for Brussels’, who
carry out all sorts of projects in addition to the larger productions of
the Needcompany. These ‘entrepreneurs in entertainment’ made films,
installations, performances and productions in various configurations.
Curator: Jérôme Sans • Coordinator: Sophie Lauwers • Production: BOZAR
EXPO and Needcompany • Catalogue: Restlessness. English edition (with an
11 page Dutch quire), BOZAR BOOKS by Mercatorfonds, Brussels, 2007, 176
pp. • Venue: Antechambers • Entrance: free of charge
Faire un effort: San Keller
Clever and Smart
From 2 March to 15 April
In consultation with the Centre for Fine Arts, the New International
Cultural Centre (NICC) put on the programme Faire un effort, a series in
which rhythm and time are the most important aspects.
Following Tris Vonna-Michell, San Keller (1971, Switzerland) was
invited to appear. Stefan Keller studied at the University for Art and
Design in Zurich. Action forms the basis of his artistic work. His
artificial alter ego San Keller leads him “away from the inner privacy of
thoughts to the kingdom of real life, the world”.
The exhibition Clever and Smart in the Centre for Fine Arts comprised
a diverse range of works and interventions which inspired the viewer to
reflect.
Coordinator: Anne Judong • Production: BOZAR EXPO and NICC • Venue:
Foyer I • Entrance: free of charge
17

Isa Genzken, Lampe, 1994 © Courtesy Galerie
Daniel Buchholz, Köln
© Jacques Charlier
Views on Europe
Europe and German Painting in the Nineteenth Century
From 8 March to 20 May
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München
worked together on the occasion of the German presidency of the
Council of the European Union to take a look at 19 th -century German
art from various perspectives. Important European countries and
regions were repeatedly linked to specific themes. Countless trends
in European art, history and current affairs in the 19 th century were
reflected in German art. The exhibition revealed these interactions.
The journey started in Greece, the cradle of European culture. Artists
such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Anselm Feuerbach idealised the
classical sites and myths. Italy was the favourite destination for masters
such as Joseph Anton Koch, Friedrich Overbeck and Carl Blechen; the
Academy of Copenhagen inspired Philipp Otto Runge, Johan Christian
Dahl and Caspar David Friedrich. The Austrian and Swiss Alps were
a strong attraction for Friedrich and Ludwig Richter, immortalised in
their breathtaking panoramas. From Bohemia and Spain the exhibition
moved to English portraiture.
Belgium left its traces with its historical paintings. Max Liebermann
stylised Dutch genre works in a social utopia. Carl Spitzweg and
Wilhelm Leibl indulged themselves with the French open-air paintings.
The journey ended in Berlin with one of the most discerning observers:
Adolph Menzel, a star in the European firmament.
Curators: Bernhard Maaz, Joachim Kaak, Ulrich Bischoff • Coordinator: Ann Flas
• Production: BOZAR EXPO and Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
München. Under the gracious patronage of Dr. Angela Merkel, chancellor of
the Federal Republic of Germany • Catalogue: Views on Europe. Europe and
German Painting in the Nineteenth Century. English edition (with a Dutch and
French quire), Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, 415 pp.; Blicke auf Europa. Europa und
die deutsche Malerei des 19. Jahrhunderts. German publication (with a Dutch
and French quire), Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, 2007, 415 pp. • Scenography:
Scala, Günter Krüger, Berlin • Subsidy/sponsorship: German Federal Cultural
Foundation and the Kulturstiftung des Bundes • Venue: Ravenstein Circuit •
Entrance: ¤ 9,00 • Visitors: 21,295
Visit(e). Contemporary Art in Germany
Selection from the collection of contemporary art of the Federal
Republic of Germany
From 23 March to 1 July
Since 1970 the Federal Republic of Germany has collected
contemporary art. By now the collection comprises more than a
thousand works of art created after 1949. The policy on acquisition
is based on a broad vision. It does not concentrate on individual
artists, but on a broad range of artistic starting points. In this way
the collection provides a fascinating summary of artistic creativity in
Germany without aiming to be complete in terms of the history of art.
The exhibition Visit(e) was conceived as a lively visual essay. The
emphasis was on the artistic production of the last twenty years,
including works by Isa Genzken, Andreas Gursky, Jonathan Meese,
Neo Rauch and Gregor Schneider.
There were three central themes reflected in the contemporary art: the
construction of history, individual and collective life and the various
ways of representing space. The paintings included works by Jonathan
Meese and Daniel Richter, there were drawings by Joseph Beuys and
Johannes Kahrs, sculptures by Rebecca Horn and Nam June Paik,
photographs by Thomas Demand and Wolfgang Tillmans and films and
videos by Tacita Dean and Omer Fast.
Curators: Eugen Blume and Anette Hüsch • Coordinator: Ann Flas • Production:
18

II. A wide range of styles
Willy Ronis, The Trade Union Representative, 1950
BOZAR EXPO • Catalogue: Visit[e]. Werke aus der Sammlung zeitgenössicher
Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bilingual catalogue in English and
German, DuMont, Cologne, 2007, 200 pp. • Subsidy/sponsorship: The
Representative of the Federal Government for Culture and Media, in the context
of the German presidency of the Council of the European Union • Venue: ING,
ING Cultural Centre, Brussels • Entrance: ¤ 5.00 • Visitors: 10,670
ikob
Collection of the Museum for Contemporary Art in Eupen
From 29 March to 24 June
The ikob (Internationale Kunstzentrum Ostbelgien) is located in a
busy commercial district in Eupen. For about ten years it has served
as the showcase for contemporary art in the German language
community. Since 2003 the museum has been collecting works by
internationally famous artists. As an initial stimulus, more than fifty
artists from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany
donated or loaned works of art. The collection was supplemented
with purchased and commissioned works. BOZAR EXPO exhibited a
careful selection which reflected various different media: installations,
video art, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and graphic
work. The exhibition contained works by international artists, though
the emphasis remained on Belgium.
Christian Gottlieb Schick (1776-1812), Bildnis der Heinrike Dannecker, 1802,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Nationalgalerie
Jan Lauwers, Restlessness
Curator: Wolfgang Becker • Coordinator: Frank Vanhaecke • Production:
BOZAR EXPO and ikob, Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst Eupen (Museum for
Contemporary Art of East Belgium) • Catalogue: Le Frac Oriental de Belgique.
The ikob collection. Catalogue in four languages (French, German, English,
Dutch), ikob, Eupen, 128 pp. • Subsidy/sponsorship: Deutschsprachige
Gemeinschaft Belgien, Stadt Eupen, BRF, Grenz-Echo Verlag, Cultural
Department of the Province of Luik and Ethias • Venue: Foyer I •Entrance: free
of charge
19

A4: Hell’O Monsters. Game on you
From 27 April to 16 September
A4, an initiative by B.P.S.22 Project from Charleroi, provides a stage
for young artists. It returned to the Centre for Fine Arts for the second
time with Hell’O Monsters, a collective of four artists from the graffiti
scene: Blastus, Desro, Ewing 33 and Tatone.
Just as some graffiti artists enhance crumbling walls in the city with their
creations, Hell’O Monsters aim to spread their illustrations to brighten up
a world that is not particularly happy. At the same time, they also hold
up a mirror: their ironic caricatures represent all too human traits.
They use pens, felt tips, spray cans or paint for their art work.
In Brussels they created a highly personal universe inhabited by bizarre
monsters. A fantastic world of imaginary characters adorned the walls
of the Centre.
A bilingual (French-Dutch) A4-document explained the artists’ work.
Domein, Sittard), Jérôme Sans (BALTIC, Gateshead) and Nicolaus
Schafhausen (Witte de With, Rotterdam).
The seven nominees were given support for their productions to create
a work which could win one of the following four prizes: the Crowet
Young Belgian Painters Award (¤ 25,000), the Émile and Stéphy
Langui Young Belgian Painters Award (¤ 12,500), the Centre for Fine
Arts Award (¤12,500) and the ING Prize (¤ 12,500).
Coordinator: Laurence Leunen • Production: BOZAR EXPO and the Young
Belgian Painters Foundation • Catalogue: Prix de la Jeune Peinture Belge.
Prijs Jonge Belgische Schilderkunst. Young Belgian Painters Award, BOZAR
BOOKS by Mercatorfonds, Brussels, 2007, 96 pp. • Subsidy/sponsorship:
Brussels Capital Region, ING, Swift, Fondation Magritte Stichting • Venue:
Ravenstein Circuit • Entrance: free of charge • Visitors: 7,860
Curator: Nancy Casielles • Coordinator: Anne Judong • Production: BOZAR
EXPO and the B.P.S.22 Project • Venue: Ravenstein Circuit • Entrance: free
of charge
2007 Young Belgian Painters Award
From 22 June to 9 September
The Young Belgian Painters Award is for Belgium what the Turner Prize
is in Great Britain, the Marcel Duchamp in France and The Vincent in
the Netherlands.
Former winners, such as Pierre Alechinsky, Ann Veronica Janssens,
Hans Op de Beeck and Christophe Terlinden demonstrate the
discerning judgement of the jury and the impact of the prize. In 2007
an internationally composed jury once again provided a guarantee
of quality: Ann Demeester (De Appel, Amsterdam), Eva Gonzalez-
Sancho (FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon), Stijn Huijts (Stedelijk Museum het
Ingenuity
Photography and Engineering, 1846-2006
From 6 July to 9 September
Ingenuity demonstrated man’s technical and industrial ingenuity with
345 historical and contemporary photographs. The work of a total of
164 photographers was exhibited. The exhibition revealed both the
creative and the destructive forces.
The works zoomed in on natural forces and man’s endeavours to control
and harness them: earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, volcanic
eruptions and forest fires. Man has responded with some ingenious
constructions against all this violence.
Ingenuity comprised the entire history of photography, from pioneers
such as Robert Howlett to modernists like Albert Renger-Patzsch,
Life photographer Margaret Bourke-White and humanists such as W.
Eugene Smith and André Kertész to contemporary art photographers.
20

II. A wide range of styles
Curator: Jorge Calado • Coordinator: Frank Vanhaecke • Production: BOZAR
EXPO and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation • Catalogue: Ingenuity.
Photography and Engineering 1846 – 2006, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation,
Lisbon, 620 pp. • Subsidy/sponsorship: Federal Government Department
of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation 50 years • Venue: Ravenstein Circuit • Entrance: ¤ 7.00
• Visitors: 11,500
Candida Höfer
Brussels Series
From 6 July to 9 September
The photographic oeuvre which Candida Höfer has built up since
the early 1970s constitutes an extensive catalogue of public interiors,
libraries, theatres, concert halls, opera foyers and museums. Her work
is more than a tour around all these buildings; it provides an excellent
selection of public interiors.
Locations such as the Printroom of the Royal Library, the Music
Conservatory, the Centre for Fine Arts, the Royal Museums of Fine
Arts, the Monnaie/Munt theatre and the Flagey broadcasting building
are included in her oeuvre. Together they form the Brussels Series.
The Centre for Fine Arts premiered five photographs from the series of
22 architectural photographs. There is no one to be seen in the Brussels
concert halls and exhibition rooms, foyers and halls that are shown. They
are submerged in a pregnant silence, characteristic of Höfer’s style.
Coordinator: Frank Vanhaecke • Production: BOZAR EXPO and Patrick De
Brock Gallery • Catalogue: Candida Höfer. Brussels Series, Patrick De Brock
Gallery, Knokke, 2006 • Subsidy/sponsorship: Léon Eeckman n.v./s.a.
Venue: Council Room • Entrance: free of charge
Thomas Weinberger, Cracker, Esso Raffinerie, 2003 © Nusser & Baumgart Contemporary
21

In 2007 the artist Luc Tuymans
was curator of the exhibition The
Forbidden Empire.
Luc Tuymans
‘Both for the Centre for Fine Arts and for
myself, the exhibition The Forbidden Empire
was an adventure into the unknown.
The initiative was unparalleled.
I particularly experienced the cooperation
between the two countries and the two
cultures as a great success. Although the
original concept could not be carried
out in full in the Forbidden City because
of technical problems, what remains
expresses a good feeling about the mutual
bond. The follow-up project in 2009 will
be based on strong foundations.’
René Magritte
From 30 April to 5 July
National Art Museum of China, Beijing
In expectation of a René Magritte Museum in the Royal Museums of
Fine Arts, located on the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg, the work by this great
master of surrealism has travelled to the National Art Museum in Beijing.
The exhibition brings together all the aspects of Magritte’s art: paintings,
drawings, gouaches, lithographs, painted objects, photographs, etc. A largescale
première in China, coordinated by the Centre for Fine Arts.
Curator: Michel Draguet • Coordinators: Claude Lorent (Centre for Fine Arts)
and Pierre-Yves Desaive (Royal Museums of Fine Arts) • Production: BOZAR
EXPO and Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium • Subsidy/sponsorship:
French Community of Belgium • Venue: National Art Museum of China, Beijing
• Entrance: free of charge
The Forbidden Empire
Visions of the World by Chinese and Flemish Masters
The Palace Museum, Beijing
From 27 June to 5 September
In the spring of 2007 Flemish and Chinese masters came together in
the Centre for Fine Arts. In the summer the exhibition travelled to the
Forbidden City in Beijing.
A Chinese catalogue was also published for this exhibition.
Curators: Yu Hui and Luc Tuymans • Coordinator: Anne Judong • Production:
BOZAR EXPO and The Palace Museum, Beijing • Catalogue: The Forbidden
Empire, The Forbidden City Publishing House, Beijing, 2007, 421 pp. • Subsidy/
sponsorship: The Palace Museum, the Flemish Community, Ministry of Culture
of China, Federal government, Brussels Capital Region • Venue: The Palace
Museum, Beijing • Entrance: free of charge
22

II. A wide range of styles
1.
2.
3.
1. René Magritte, Le retour, 1940. Collection
MRBAB © Charly Herscovici, 2007, per
courtesy
2. Gallery of Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga
© Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille, photo | foto
J. Bernard
3. Yoshiaki Kahaitsu, Japan, Social Services
Project, Teahouse
The Grand Atelier
Pathways of Art in Europe (5 th -18 th Century)
From 5 October 2007 to 20 January 2008
The 2007 edition of Europalia, europalia.europa, was the largest festival
devoted to Europe in the context of the 50 th anniversary of the Treaty
of Rome. The French curator Roland Recht was in charge of the main
exhibition The Grand Atelier.
From the 5 th to the 18 th century Europe served as a single gigantic
studio as a result of the development of the trade routes and waterways.
Painters, sculptors, jewellers, princes and clients travelled round and
influenced each other. With more than 330 artworks from more than a
hundred museums, the exhibition outlined the creation of these artistic
dialogues. It revealed the cultural roots of European philosophers
and focused on fourteen typical European phenomena which spread
through Europe like shockwaves. Visitors discovered how Irish monks
influenced the European mainland with their magnificent manuscripts
in the Middle Ages, how great and smaller renaissance masters entered
into a dialogue with each other, and how sketches of gothic cathedrals
several metres tall circulated, inspiring architects throughout Europe.
Curators: Roland Recht, Catheline Périer-D’Ieteren, Pascal Griener •
Production: BOZAR EXPO and Europalia International. Under the gracious
patronage of H.M. King Albert II • Catalogue: The Grand Atelier. Pathways of
Art in Europe (5 th -18 th Century), Europalia International and Mercatorfonds, 335
pp.; a French and Dutch edition of the book were published at this occasion.
Scenography: Repérages Architecture, Paris • Subsidy/sponsorship: Suez,
Thalys, Total • Venue: Ravenstein Circuit • Entrance: ¤ 10.00 • Visitors:
78,274
Melting Ice
Envisioning change
From 5 October 2007 to 6 January 2008
Melting Ice focused the attention on the effects of climate change and
the fragile condition of our polar ecosystems. Forty international artists
concentrated on the topic of global warming. They formulated their
responses with paintings, sculptures, photography, multimedia and
conceptual installations.
The exhibition had the ambition to raise awareness of global warming
and climate change. It aimed to bring about a positive change of attitude
in individuals, societies and world leaders.
Curator: Randy Rosenberg • Coordinator: Axelle Ancion • Production: BOZAR
EXPO, Natural World Museum and United Nations Environment Programme
Subsidy/sponsorship: Nobel Peace Center, Norwegian Ministry of Environment,
Autodesk • Venue: Council Room, Foyers adjoining the Henry Le Boeuf Hall
Entrance: free of charge • Visitors: 4,272
Encompassing the globe
Portugal in the World in the 16 th and 17 th Centuries
From 26 October 2007 to 3 February 2008
In connection with the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the
European Union the Centre for Fine Arts, in collaboration with the
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian
Institution, Washington DC, organized the exhibition Encompassing the
globe. Portugal in the World in the 16 th and 17 th Centuries.
The Portuguese voyages of discovery in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries brought together people from all over the world. An
unprecedented exchange of knowledge, technology, images and ideas
resulted in extremely original works of art.
The Portuguese voyages of discovery went south to the west coast
23

Tupinamba, Feathered Crown,
before 1869, National Museum
of Denmark
of Africa, west to Brazil, east across the Indian Ocean to India, Sri
Lanka, Indonesia, China and Japan. Encompassing the globe showed art
treasures illustrating the diversity of the cultures which were part of
the Portuguese trading empire. More than 160 artworks, including
paintings, sculptures, manuscripts, maps and other exceptional artefacts
revealed the development of a modern view of the world.
programme of the Centre for Fine Arts.
By way of a slogan, the exhibition curator Devrim Bayar quoted the
Japanese playwright Monzaemon Chikamatsu: ‘Art is situated in the
interval which is as thin as the membrane separating truth from lies.’
A bilingual (French-Dutch) A4-document explained the work of the
artists.
Curator: Jay A. Levenson • Coordinator: Ann Flas • Production: BOZAR EXPO,
the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C. and National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C. •
Catalogue: Encompassing the globe. Portugal in the World in the 16 th and 17 th
Centuries, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.,
2007, 386 pp.; a French and Dutch edition were published at this occasion. •
Scenography: Lee Preedy, Antwerp-Manchester U.K. • Subsidy/sponsorship:
Turismo de Portugal, Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Portugal, Ministry
of Culture of Portugal, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation • Venue: Rue Royale/
Koningsstraat Circuit • Entrance: ¤ 9.00 • Visitors : 39,229
Curator: Devrim Bayar • Coordinator: Alberta Sessa • Production: BOZAR
EXPO and B.P.S. 22 Project • Subsidy/sponsorship: Levita Chemical
International NV, Finres Group, l’Atelier de restauration de La Cambre, Lukas
and Art Gallery Shop • Venue: BN Halls • Entrance: free of charge
Fabrice Samyn, séries The Mausoleum Shop, 2006
A4 : Kelly Schacht and Fabrice Samyn. Intervals
From 7 December 2007 to 20 January 2008
The new exhibition of A4, an initiative by the BPS 22 Project in
Charleroi, brought together two young Belgian artists. They shared the
theme of the ‘interval’.
In his time intervals Fabrice Samyn takes old works in hand. Kelly
Schacht examines the concealed history of exhibition rooms in spatial
intervals. The works of the two artists relate to each other like a
musical composition, rather like the harmonic interval between two
simultaneous sounds, or the melodic interval between two successive
notes.
The exhibition focused on the differences and similarities between
emerging artistic practices. It was part of the varied interdisciplinary
24

II. A wide range of styles
BO
ZAR
ARCHI
TEC
TURE
The project
The Centre for Fine Arts works with the
architectural journal A+ Revue belge d’architecture
/A+ Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Architectuur
and the Belgian Order of Architects on
exhibitions, symposiums, lectures and debates
on architecture. Under the heading BOZAR
ARCHITECTURE these three parties give the
broad architectural debate a permanent place in
the Centre for Fine Arts.
Activities
Exhibitions
A Vision for Brussels
Imagining the Capital of Europe
From 16 March to 16 September
For three years an international team of sixteen architects and urban
planners associated with the Berlage Institute (Rotterdam) focused
on the city of Brussels. The exhibition coincided with the fiftieth
anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome. In this way it marked
a fifty-year search for a coherent European project for Brussels. A
Vision for Brussels argued that Brussels was the best conceivable place
to develop the capital of Europe. With its many social, political and
cultural layers, the city perfectly reflects the diversity of Europe today.
The project broke through the entrenched ideas which consider
Brussels to be an arbitrary capital of Europe. The all-too-abstract
discussion about the future of the capital of the European Union
acquired a concrete, tangible and accessible form. A Vision for Brussels
adopted a polemic position which provided substance for the current
debate on the future of Brussels and Europe.
On 9 May – the day celebrating Europe - A+, BOZAR
ARCHITECTURE and the Berlage Institute organized a colloquium
including the speakers, Pier Vittorio Aureli, Joachim Declerck, Eric
Corijn, Lieven De Cauter and Géry Leloutre.
Curators: Pier Vittorio Aureli and Joachim Declerck • Coordinator: Iwan
Strauven • Production: BOZAR ARCHITECTURE, Berlage Institute Rotterdam
and A+ • Catalogue: Brussels - A Manifesto. Towards the Capital of Europe,
NAi Publishers, Rotterdam / A+ Editions, Brussels, s.d., 240 pp. Visitors guide:
32 pp. • Scenography: Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen • Subsidy/
sponsorship: Ministry of the Urban policy, Brussels Capital Region, National
Sines Arts Centre
Manuel & Francisco Aires Mateus
25

Lottery, Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur (NL), HGIS Cultuurmiddelen (NL),
Ministry of the Flemish Community, The Vlaams Bouwmeester, the French
Community Wallonia-Brussels, Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen and
the Representation of the European Commission in Belgium. • Venue: Foyer 2
and 3, Small Theatre • Entrance: free of charge
Gonçalo Byrne + Aires Mateus
the void
From 10 October to 30 November
The exhibition the void illustrated eleven projects of the architects
Gonçalo Byrne and the Aires Mateus brothers with a number of gigantic
models and countless plans and photographs. The common theme in
the approach of the two Portuguese bureaus is ‘negative space’, which
forms the basis for their architecture. The void provides structure for
the architecture and the city. The community becomes a possibility and
acquires an identity in the empty spaces. On 9 October Manuel Aires
Mateus and Gonçalo Byrne opened the exhibition with a lecture.
Curator: Gonçalo Byrne • Coordinator: Iwan Strauven • Production: BOZAR
ARCHITECTURE, Instituto Camões, A+ and the Belgian Order of Architects •
Catalogue : Visitors guide: 32 pages. • Subsidy/sponsorship: Léon Eeckman
s.a./n.v., Federation of the Belgian Cement Industry (Febelcem), the Belgian
Order of Architects and SigmaKalon Deco Belux s.a./n.v. • Venue: Foyer 1, 2
and 3, Small Theatre • Entrance: free of charge
Michel Desvigne
26

II. A wide range of styles
House in Alenquer
Manuel & Francisco Aires Mateus
A Vision for Brussels
Imagining the Capital of Europe
Lecture series
A regular series of lectures and a selection of speakers based on cutting
edge topics, to make contemporary architecture accessible to a broad
general public. In every case the lectures are linked to a detailed dossier
in A+.
Landscape Strategies
On 25 January, the celebrated French landscape architect Michel
Desvigne presented a privileged vision of the procedures, underlying
reasons and strategies for his extensive oeuvre. At the time Desvigne
was working on seven projects in Belgium, including the conversion
of a military hospital in Antwerp, the reconstruction of the banks of a
tributary of the Oude Leie in Kortrijk and the Le Bavière site in Liège.
Together with Xaveer De Geyter he won the competition for the Place
Rogierplein in Brussels.
Risky business
Juan Herreros (6 November) combines sustainable technologies
with contemporary design. He came to speak about his recent work
in Brussels: bioclimatic buildings, waste recycling units, multicoloured
towers around public spaces, and a 90m 2 house in Mallorca.
Production: BOZAR ARCHITECTURE, A+ and the Belgian Order of Architects
• Venue: Henry Le Boeuf Hall • Subsidy/sponsorship: Federation of the
Belgian Cement Industry (Febelcem) • Entrance: € 7.00
Production: BOZAR ARCHITECTURE, A+ and the Belgian Order of Architects
• Subsidy/sponsorship: Project 2 and the Ministry of Mobility and Public Works
of the Brussels Capital Region • Venue: Henry Le Boeuf Hall • Entrance:
€ 7.00
After KM3
MVRDV successfully concluded the first commissioned work in Belgium
with the conversion of the exhibition space of Argos. This was the perfect
occasion to devote a retrospective exhibition to their work in Argos, and
organize a lecture by Winy Maas at the Centre for Fine Arts (6 March).
Their latest publication KM3 formed the starting point.
Juan Herreros
Production: BOZAR ARCHITECTURE, A+ and Argos • Subsidy/sponsorship:
Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen • Venue: Chamber Music Hall •
Entrance: € 7.00
27

BO
ZAR
THEA
TRE
DAN
CE
LITERA
TURE
Jan Fabre, I am a mistake
The project
The dramatic arts corresponded as much as
possible to the topics of BOZAR EXPO and the
in-house festivals. In 2007 the emphasis was on:
- the dialogue between international producers
and Belgian dramatic artists
- productions in venues outside the traditional
theatres
- transversalism
- interculturalism
- continuity and permanent cooperation
- tradition: the series Theater op de Middag
(Theatre at Lunchtime)
Activities
BOZAR DANCE and
BOZAR THEATRE
BOZAR DANCE and les Halles de Schaerbeek, focused on young dance
from Germany following the German EU presidency (in the context
of the Dimanches de la Danse). The German choreographer Martin
Nachbar (ex-PARTS and C de la B) created an unusual location project
for the Terarken Rooms. He worked there with Lilia Mestre and Carlos
Pez, dancers living in Brussels, and with the German choreographer
Antje Pfundtner. The audience and dancers together explored the
meaning of the idiom of dance: the viewers actively took part in the
‘dance conference’. Christian Vögel concluded the Sunday of dance
with dissonant techno. Antje Pfundtner gave a striking performance as
a dancer in projects of Michèle Anne De Mey, Felix Ruckert and David
Hernandez. In the Centre for Fine Arts she danced her solo EigenSinn,
based on one of Grimm’s fairytales.
The French choreographer Mathilde Monnier and the French writer
Christine Angot performed on stage as a duo in La Place du singe.
Together they analysed the rituals of civilisation and raised questions
about the role which society can play in art.
From Inside, an interactive multimedia installation by Thierry De
Mey, was set up in the Horta Hall. The installation operated as a sort
of jukebox which allowed the visitor to choose between three different
choreographic (and geographic) worlds: the dance performance One
Flat Thing by William Forsythe, the whirling dance of Manuela Rastaldi
in the concrete streets of the former Sicilian town of Gibellina, and
Kinshasa with exciting music and dance from the eponymous town.
BOZAR CINEMA showed the film One Flat Thing reproduced and
organized a meeting with Thierry De Mey.
Münchner
Kammerspiele,
Die Zehn Gebote
©Andreas
Pohlmann
Pippo Delbono,
Urlo
© Jean-Louis
Fernandez
28

II. A wide range of styles
The solo exhibition Restlessness by Jan Lauwers in the spring of 2007
was accompanied by a series of events reflecting the multidisciplinary
character of Lauwers’ work and Needcompany. During BRXLBRAVO
Needcompany looked in a different way at its twenty-year history with
an installation in the Horta Hall. There were various sideshows under
the heading ‘Just for Brussels’ in de Terarken Rooms, as well as unknown
work by the Needcompany: the Porcelain Project by Lemm & Barkey,
Maison Dahl Bonnema and the Ohno Cooperation by the members of the
Needcompany, together with special guests such as Davis Freeman and
Paul Lemp. There was also a preview of the film C Song Variations.
The visual artists Patrick Corillon, Dominique Roodthooft and
Johanna Korthals put on a production for a puppeteer and storyteller.
Le Diable abandonné/De verwaarloosde Duivel (The Neglected Devil)
explored the interaction between sound, images, graphic design and
the meaning of words. Corillon produced a contemporary version of
the Théâtre de la Coquille, a puppet theatre that was established in
Sérinan, a small town on the banks of the Meuse, during the First World
War. The performances were presented both in Dutch and in French,
collaboration with Théâtre de la Place/Liège.
Pippo Delbono is one of the most celebrated Italian dramatists. His
latest creation Questo buio feroce was put on in Théâtre de la Place in
Liège, and Urlo was put on in Brussels. Pippo Delbono’s theatre takes up
the cause of the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. When
his unusual and disabled actors are not able to say things with words,
they express them with their bodies. Urlo was a large-scale spectacle
somewhere between popular cabaret and the theatre of cruelty. The
music was by Giovanna Marini with songs which were sung at village
festivals. A (Belgian) brass band took part in this event and played the
music of processions from Southern Italy. The performance was seen
by 900 viewers.
In connection with the German EU presidency, BOZAR THEATRE
invited the Münchner Kammerspiele with Die Zehn Gebote (The Ten
Commandments), an adaptation of the eponymous film by the Polish
filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski. The director was Johan Simons. The
famous German company produces contemporary theatre with a strong
sense of commitment. In Die Zehn Gebote the twelve actors switch from
one role to another. They look straight at their own weaknesses and free
themselves from commandments which tell them how to live from a
distance. The scenographer Bert Neumann bathed the stage of the Henry
Le Boeuf Hall in neon light. BOZAR CINEMA supported the project by
showing the complete version of Kieslowski’s Decalogue films.
Fraction was invited to appear with Beards I – daemonie, the first part of
a trilogy based on European myths: Bluebeard, Faust and Hamlet. The
production was created as a result of the close collaboration between
europalia.europa, Ars Musica, BOZAR THEATRE and Théâtre de la
Place in Liège. This musical spectacle was largely based on the fable
Bluebeard by Charles Perrault. Stefan Oertli successfully attracted a
group of artists from the opera world to support him. He himself was
both director and conductor, dramatist and actor, and in addition to
these artistic tasks, also took on the production side.
In the autumn of 2007 young Portuguese artists were given a stage.
The programme was composed in close cooperation with Alkantara
and was financially subsidised by Instituto Camões. The Portuguese
dramatist Patrícia Portela, who produces interactive theatre, arranged
tables in the Horta Hall in the form of DNA. Viewers could sit down
for a lavish meal. Between the courses of the dinner philosophical
stories were dished up on subjects such as immortality, the finite
nature of things, clones, and the vision of man in the future. The
performance took place in an icy atmosphere, like a laboratory. The
Belgian composer Christophe Deboeck wrote science-fiction music
for the occasion. In de Horta Hall students of PARTS improvised
to electronic jazz played live by the Portuguese group Granular. The
dance and music interacted wonderfully under the inspired direction
of the coach David Zambrano.
29

© Needcompany/Luc Galle
In 2007 the theatremaker and
visual artist Jan Lauwers was
invited for a solo exhibition and a
series of events which reflect the
multidisciplinary character of his
work.
Jan Lauwers
‘It is astonishing how a (too) large
institute such as the Centre for Fine Arts
succeeds in giving the artists who are
invited a radical degree of freedom.
The very open-hearted approach of
Paul Dujardin and some of his closest
collaborators means that this gigantic
labyrinth became a transparent place to
think and work with Marcel Broodthaers
and his camel as an alert porter. During
all the months of intense work I felt
I was surrounded by experts, and this
enriched my work.’
During europalia.europa the Austrian choreographer Chris Haring
was invited to appear with his company Liquid Loft. Running Sushi,
an intimate and extremely poetic production, in which everything
revolves around communication, was put on in the Terarken Rooms.
To illustrate this, Haring divided the scenario into twelve scenes.
The public decided for itself the running order in which the parts of
the production were played. The two dancers were seduced to dance a
pas-de-deux full of humour. They were inspired by humorous Japanese
comic strips. Chris Haring was also a guest in the Centre for Fine Arts
last season; meanwhile he has built up his own public.
Moussem, a festival which responds to the multicultural reality,
was a good reason to invite Moroccan dancers. In Déserts, Désir,
choreographed by Cie Anania, a man (Taroufiq Izeddiou) and a
woman (Bouchra Ouizguen) each danced a solo. They were together
on stage at the same time, but were separated from each other by a
gauze veil. The audience was also divided into male and female halves.
In Last Night, the second part of the evening, Latefa Ahrrare stood up
for women’s rights in a monologue by Mohammed Saïd Al Danahani.
Le Fou based on Khalil Gibran, was another interesting event by the
Tunisian El Teatro, directed by Taoufik Jebali. BOZAR MUSIC, the
inspiration behind this Moussem Festival, organised several concerts.
BOZAR DANCE and BOZAR MUSIC jointly commissioned Jan
Fabre, Wolfgang Rihm and Chantal Akerman to produce a creative
work. I am a mistake was made for the cooperative venture ECHO
(European Concert Hall Organisation) with a subsidy from the European
Commission (Culture 2000). It was performed in eight large European
cities: Athens, Vienna, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Luxembourg, Brussels,
Cologne and Paris. The starting point was a text by Jan Fabre about the
freedom of the individual and of the artist. Fabre used the pleasure of
smoking as a metaphor for this work. At the same time the black and
white film by the Belgian director Chantal Akerman was projected on
Jan Lauwers and Needcompany, Deconstruction
© Needcompany/Miel Verhasselt
30
Jan Lauwers and Needcompany, Just for Brussels
© Needcompany/Luc Galle

II. A wide range of styles
stage. The Ensemble Recherche from Freiburg, conducted by Lukas
Vis, played original music by the German composer Wolfgang Rihm.
Hilde Van Mieghem recited the text, while four dancers performed
Fabre’s choreography at the front of the stage.
The Theater op de Middag (Theatre at Lunchtime) series continued.
The poster showed well-known actors and directors, as well as total
newcomers. Kamiel Vanhole brought Margaretha of Burgundy back
to life, Han Kerckhoffs convincingly played the part of Judas, Uncle
Vanya was played by the Mathilde Collective, Eric De Volder produced
popular theatre, and Bad van Marie played tricks on the audience.
The series of lunchtime productions responds to the character of
contemporary theatre and is the ultimate Flemish platform in the
Centre for Fine Arts. The series also made a name for itself in the theatre
world in Brussels. Many of these productions cannot be seen anywhere
else in the capital. The loyal audiences again continued to come in large
numbers in 2007.
Jan Fabre, I am a mistake
Patricia Portela
De Zus van ©Ben van Duin
EigenSinn © Iris Terzka
31

José Eduardo Agualusa © Jorge Simao
Christine Angot ©John Foley/Opale
BOZAR LITERATURE
Series of philosophers In the course of 2007 the literature
department organized a series of lectures with four leading French philosophers
under the heading ‘Dans les plis du présent’ (In the folds of
the present). These were philosophers with a strong sense of social commitment
who are also at home in the world of art and culture.
Alain Badiou raised the question of whether our present isn’t lacking
a sense of the present. He referred his arguments to Jean Genet’s Le
balcon. Natacha Michel talked about Nicolas Sarkozy’s France and
chose a sentence from one of her novels as a meaningful title: ‘I saw an
empty France, populated by vineyards, cornfields and factories, guarded
by dogs and trucks.’ On 26 September Bernard Stiegler spoke on the
stage of the Henry Le Boeuf Hall about concern (‘souci’) and referred
in his speech, amongst other things, to the recent changes in French
legislation related to youth delinquency. Jacques Rancière talked to a
packed Studio about the decline in critical thinking.
In three of the four lectures actors (including Jean-François Beukelaers
and Anny Czupper) first read extracts from the texts by the philosophers.
These preludes not only served as an introduction, they also emphasised
the theatrical, rhetorical aspect of the lectures. Alain Badiou and Jacques
Rancière particularly proved to be new stars in French philosophy. They
each attracted a crowd of about 200 people. The series was subsidised
by the French Embassy.
Literary salon with Christine Angot Christine Angot
(1959) gave a speech on the evening before the dance performance La
Place du singe with Mathilde Monnier. The controversial author talked
about her work, and in particular her latest novel, Rendez-vous, which
won the 2006 Prix de Flore. Gilles Collard, editor-in-chief of the literary
and philosophical journal Pylône, chaired the discussion.
Cinema Racista During the new four-day Passa Porta Festival BO-
ZAR LITERATURE, the Royal Belgian Film Archive and Het beschrijf
arranged an evening devoted to a literary film programme, Cinema
racista. The writers, Tom Lanoye, Thomas Gunzig, Eugène Savitzkaya,
Moses Isegawa, Shahrnush Parsipur and Frank Westerman
each chose a classic film from the Royal Belgian Film Archive. The selection
included Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919),
King Kong (1931) and Fort Apache (1948). During and in between the
projections the writers commented on the image that is shown of ‘the
blacks’, ‘the yellow peril’ and ‘the redskins’. It turned into a literary trip
through the history of film, devoting attention to clichés, prejudices and
misunderstandings. The programme was repeated in the three chapters
Red, Yellow and Black (each with two writers and the same number of
film excerpts) during the Centre’s Party Time.
Res publica litterarum The multilingual literary evening Res
publica litterarum was a co-production with the Stichting Ons Erfdeel
(Our Heritage Foundation), which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary
in 2007. There was a colloquium in the Egmont Palace on the evening
before. Five writers each read an excerpt about language, borders and
travel: Abdelkader Benali (Dutch and Berber), Caroline Lamarche
(French), Olga Tokarczuk (Polish), the poet Zoran Anchevski (Macedonian)
and Adriaan Van Dis (Dutch). Translations were projected in
French and/or Dutch. Meanwhile the Melike group played Turkish music.
At the beginning and end of the evening the actress Chris Lomme
brought Princess Europa to life. The multilingual performance suited
the profile of the Centre for Fine Arts perfectly, and was the ideal prelude
to europalia.europa.
Portugal In connection with the exhibition Encompassing the globe.
Portugal in the World in the 16 th and 17 th Centuries, writers from the Portuguese
world appeared on the stage.
32

II. A wide range of styles
King Kong
The series started with an encounter between two Brazilian authors on
30 October. João Ubaldo Ribeiro, one of the greatest and most widely
read writers in Brazil, described Brazilian history from the Portuguese
‘discovery’ to the middle of the twentieth century in his magnum opus
Brazil Brazil (Viva o povo brasileiro). Together with Paulo Lins, author
of the novel City of God, about youth gangs in Rio, which was turned into
a film, Ribeiro talked about Brazilian identity and the merging of races.
Afterwards the film City of God by Fernando Meirelles was shown.
The second evening started in Angola, with José Eduardo Agualusa
(Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2007). This writer-globetrotter
and rising star of Portuguese literature has a better understanding of
Portuguese expansion than anyone.
The journey ended in the former Portuguese colonies in East Timor,
with guest speakers, Luís Cardoso from East Timor and the Portuguese
Pedro Rosa Mendes. Since the Carnation Revolution Cardoso has been
in exile in Lisbon. Mendes is the author of the explosive work Tiger Bay,
about his trip from Angola to Mozambique, and the correspondent of
the Portuguese press agency Lusa in East Timor. The group Wordsong
concluded the evening with a multimedia pop concert based on poetry by
Pessoa and Al Berto. The visual artist Rita Sá made videos accompanying
the songs, which were projected during the performance
In the spring the series was devoted to the great German poets of the
19 th and 20 th centuries. Flemish poets, as well as one radio producer
explored German literature of that period. In the autumn we linked up
with the Portugal theme.
Sound poet Henri Chopin As the inventor of ‘poésie sonore’,
the French sound poet Henri Chopin (1922-2008) is a living legend.
Before he started his performance with microphone, tape recorder
and mixing desk, two films from the 1960s which Chopin had worked
on, as well as one excerpt from a new documentary, were projected on
screen.
The three evenings took place in Portuguese and were simultaneously
translated into French and Dutch. We collaborated closely with boek.
be. During the Book Fair in Antwerp, both Ribeiro and Agualusa were
present to sign books and talk to the public.
Literatuur op de Middag ‘Literature at Lunchtime’ invites writers
to take a look at classic works from world literature. The series in
2007 corresponded to two important exhibitions. The cycle is a co-production
with De Middagen van Poëzie en Proza (The Middays of Poetry
and Prose).
33

BO
ZAR
CINE
MA
Photo : Vinciane Pierart
The project
The new department established in 2004,
introduces film and video in the Centre for
Fine Arts. BOZAR CINEMA works together
with the other departments and with the Royal
Belgian Film Archive. Regular events explore the
border area between film and other art forms.
Activities
BOZAR CINEMA explores every aspect of this art form. This includes
films for the general public, but also experimental work. Classic films
and established names are found side by side with the daring work of
film directors who are acclaimed by the critics and at the large festivals.
The cherry on the cake is the previews, but homage is also paid to
timeless artists. The exclusive character and encounters with directors
and actors mean that these film evenings are always a great event. The
goal is to provide a forum for film, with a prestigious, high quality
and visionary character and a national and international image. Both
the general public and the professional sector must feel that there is
something for them personally.
1. Film events
11.01 Little Dieter needs to fly by Werner Herzog, in the presence of the
director. (Partner: Goethe Institute)
16.02 Preview of Khadak by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth.
In the presence of both directors. (Partners: Royal Belgian Film
Archive (RBFA) and Cinéart)
01.03 Tokyo Chorus by Yasujiro Ozu, accompanied by a Japanese
storyteller (benshi) and the Kumonosu Quartet (Japan). (Partners:
Maison de la culture du Japon in Paris and RBFA)
09.03 Homage to Micheline Presle in her presence, with the projection
of the film Le Diable au corps by Claude Autant-Lara. (Partner:
RBFA)
20.03 Preview of Goodbye Bafana, in the presence of the director Bille
August and the main actor Joseph Fiennes. (Partners: RBFA and
Cinéart)
23.04 Preview of Here After by the choreographer, dancer and director
Wim Vandekeybus. In the presence of Wim Vandekeybus.
(Partners: Ultima Vez and RBFA)
20.06 Preview of Copying Beethoven, in the presence of the director
Agnieszka Holland. (Partners: RBFA, Benelux Film Distributors.
Belgacom event)
18.09 Preview of the 2007 Palme d’Or winner, 4 mois, 3 semaines et 2
jours by Christian Mungiu. In the presence of the producer Oleg
Mutu. (Partners: RBFA and Imagine)
08.10 Preview of the documentary Retour en Normandie by Nicolas
Philibert, in the presence of the director. (Partners: RBFA and
Cinéart)
05.11 Preview of Lions for Lambs by Robert Redford. (Partners: FOX.
Belgacom event)
25.11 Preview of Cowboy by Benoît Mariage. In the presence of the
director and Benoît Poelvoorde. (Partners: RBFA and Belga Films)
34

II. A wide range of styles
Micheline Presle
30.11 Preview of the documentary Wujong by Jia Zhang-ké, opening
evening of ‘Panorama of the documentary’
20.12Preview of Cassandra’s Dream by Woody Allen. (Partners:
Cinéart. Belgacom event).
2. Jonge Filmfans/ Jeunes Fans de Ciné (Young
Film Fans)
Every Sunday, classics from film history were shown in the Henry Le
Boeuf Hall to young cinemagoers from the age of six. These were Willy
Wonka & the chocolate factory, Peter Pan (Belgacom event), The
Cameraman, Yellow Submarine, Jungle Book and The Gold Rush.
The viewing was preceded every time by a bilingual introduction, an
initiative of Royal Belgian Film Archive and BOZAR STUDIOS.
05.03 Matthias Müller and Christoph Girardet, screening and
installation Kristall (05.03-25.03).
15.06-17.06 Malcolm Le Grice, Guy Sherwin, William Raban - Live
Cinema.
28.09 Best films from the Pocket Films festival (Paris). Partner: AT
Production
13.10 Tony Conrad and guest musicians: Forty-five years on the infinite
plain. (Partner: Argos)
14.10 An afternoon with Tony Conrad (lecture). (Partner: Argos)
20.10 Ken Jacobs: Star Spangled to Death. (Partner: Argos)
21.10 Ken Jacobs and Aki Onda: Nervous Magic Lantern (live
performance). (Partner: Argos)
06.12 Invideo 2007 (Milan) festival opening. (Partners : Invideo and
Argos)
15.12 Henri Chopin: film and live performance.
3. Expanding Cinema
4. Other projects
Yellow Submarine
BOZAR CINEMA is also exploring the relationship between cinema,
video and other art forms (visual arts, music, literature). The programme
is in the form of installations or performances.
26.01 Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder: Perf. Form (A Double-
Projection Feature in Three Parts). Sandra Gibson and Luis
Recoder also showed the installation Atmos (27.01-25.02).
(Partner: International Film Festival Rotterdam)
04.03 Work from the videotheque of the Young Belgian Painters Award:
Jacques-Louis Nyst, Peter Campus, Charlemagne Palestine, Bill
Viola, Nam June Paik, Dara Birnbaum, Jacques Lizène, Ernest
Gusella. (Partner: Jeunesse et Arts Plastiques)
01.06-03.06 Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue, shown in its entirety
(Partners: RBFA and the Polish Embassy)
20.10 Showing of Congolese films in the context of the Yambi day.
(Partners: Bureau de liaison de l’Espace francophone and
Commissariat général aux Relations internationales)
11.11 The documentary, Mariza and the Story of Fado by Simon
Broughton (UK).
24.10 Portrait of Luc Ferrari. (Partner: Radiophonic festival)
28.10 Les Grandes Répétitions. Five films by Luc Ferrari about composers
(France, 1965-1966). (Partner: Radiophonic festival)
02.11 Transes (Ahmed El Maanouni, 1981). Bellek and Sons of Osiris by
Bart Van Dijck, 2003 and 2004. In the context of the Moussem
festival
35

09.11 Archie Shepp and the 1st Panafrican festival. Film by Théo
Robichet about the first Panafrican festival in Algiers in 1969.
Followed by a solo concert by the jazz musician Archie Shepp
and a discussion with Archie Shepp, Théo Robichet and Philippe
Carles.
29.11 Aperghis : tempête sous un crâne by Catherine Maximoff. In the
presence of Georges Aperghis and the director. (Partners: Ars
Musica and Les Films du Présent)
Matthias Müller en Christoph Girardet, Kristall
36

II. A wide range of styles
BO
ZAR
STU
DIOS
The project
The art education department is inspired by the
incredible diversity of the artistic programme.
Visitors are taken through the Centre for Fine
Arts on a voyage of discovery. Families and
children, schools, teachers, young people, the
middle aged and senior citizens: there’s an
activity suitable for every visitor.
Activities
1. Families
BOZARSUNDAYS GOOD MORNING The Centre for Fine Arts provides
families with a delicious and cultural Sunday morning. First everyone
has breakfast together. Then the children (aged 3 to 10) go to the
BOZAR STUDIOS to make music themselves, while there is a concert
for the parents. On some Sundays the Royal Belgian Film Archive shows
classics from its collection, always with an introduction for children.
Partners: Jeugd en Muziek Brussel, Jeunesses Musicales de Bruxelles,
BOZAR CINEMA, Royal Belgian Film Archive.
BOZARSUNDAYS GOOD AFTERNOON An afternoon programme
for adults and children. The adults follow a guide to two exhibitions.
The children go on an active voyage of discovery through one exhibition
with a ‘pilot’. Then they start creating their own work in a workshop.
During Views on Europe the children made a viewing box and discovered
the techniques involved in landscape painting. In a travel studio in the
exhibition Encompassing the globe they made their own fleet, discovered
new territories and penetrated the secrets of cartography. During the
interval the whole family get together for tea. The very smallest children
(aged 2 to 5) can go to a creative crèche.
7,350 adults and children attended the SUNDAYS formula.
PartyTime
INTERACTIVE STUDIOS A STUDIO is an interactive room in the
middle of the exhibition, open to everyone over the age of 6. It consists
of different workstations with various creative activities, ideas and craft
tasks. Visitors are informed in a detailed documentation corner. The
STUDIO is open on Wednesdays (14:00 > 18:00), Saturdays and Sun-
37

days (10:00 > 18:00). In 2007 2,500 children (aged over 12) visited the
following two exhibitions; an average of 1,700 visitors passed through
the STUDIOS.
were exhibited in a preview for parents and children in the rooms of the
BOZAR STUDIOS. A total of 184 children took part in the workshop.
Partner: Jeunesse et Arts Plastiques
Studio China In the context of the exhibition The Forbidden Empire.
Visions of the World by Chinese and Flemish Masters, a playful discovery of
the rich Chinese universe, children created their own musical story.
Partner: Amadeo Productions
BIRTHDAY VISITS In 2007 50 children invited their friends (750 children)
to celebrate their birthday in a very original way in the Centre for
Fine Arts. They explored the building from top to bottom and discovered
all the nooks and crannies.
Studio Europa In the context of the exhibition The Grand Atelier.
Pathways of Art in Europe (5 th -18 th century), an interactive journey round
the European identity and cultural exchanges, children could travel
around the different European countries, rummage around in suitcases
and get a taste of cultural diversity.
Partner: Rasa vzw
3. Schools
BOZAR STUDIOS provides a range of activities for primary and
secondary schools, and attempts to correspond to the attainment
targets and musical education.
FAMILY KIT The Family Kit invited parents and children to playfully
discover the exhibition Ingenuity. Photography and Engineering 1846-
2006 and to be introduced to the power of human ingenuity. 142 Family
Kits were sold in the summer 2007 and 122 children took part in the
accompanying competition.
MUSIC During a musical day programme ‘Le Symphonique, c’est
chic !’ /‘Orkest op zijn Best’ (Orchestra at its best) pupils from primary
schools attend a rehearsal. They can take a seat in the middle of the orchestra.
10 schools (300 pupils) have already taken part.
Partner: National Orchestra of Belgium
2. Children
DAY WORKSHOPS Children (aged 6 to 12) go to the Centre for Fine
Arts for the day and visit the exhibition and the STUDIO. Day workshops
took place during the autumn, Christmas, spring and Easter holidays.
Approximately 140 children took part.
SUMMER WORKSHOPS Contemporary art and photography were a
source of inspiration for children to be creative themselves. The results
The musical project for schools ‘Le Classique c’est Classe’/ ‘Klassiek
met Klasse’ (Classics with Class) takes pupils from secondary schools
to concert halls. An educational introduction prepares them for the
evening concert. 4,500 pupils take part in Klassiek met Klasse every
year.
Partners: Jeugd en Muziek Brussel, Jeunesses Musicales de Bruxelles
During the ‘Parcours musicaux’/‘Muziekparcours’ (Music Rounds)
pupils from secondary education (121) attend two or three concerts and
are introduced in this way to a particular genre of music or musician.
38

II. A wide range of styles
During a day workshop with (orchestral) musicians they create their
own piece of music, inspired by music they heard in the concert hall.
EXPO During a day programme pupils from primary education spend a
whole day in an exhibition and in the STUDIO. They are introduced to
the artworks in a playful way. A total of 3,700 pupils visited the exhibitions
under the supervision of a guide/pilot.
ARCHITECTURE Together with a pilot, the pupils set out on an adventure,
holding their sketchbooks and pens. They discover who Victor
Horta was, with opportunities to look, listen and be creative. Approximately
1,500 pupils visited the building.
THEATER, DANCE, LITERATURE and CINEMA From the range of
theatre, dance, literature and cinema, BOZAR STUDIOS selects productions
which appeal to a young audience. They take a look behind
the scenes with introductions and meetings. A director, actor, dancer
or choreographer shows how the initial moment of a creative work is
turned into a performance. An Inconvenient Truth attracted 460 pupils,
the seventh art form in pocket size, the Pocket Film attracted 50 pupils
and Theater op de Middag (Theatre at Lunchtime) 450 pupils.
4. Young people
FINISSAGE Club India – 19.01
The most important exhibitions conclude with a Finissage for young
people. The exhibition Eternal Energy. 1500 Years of Indian Art remained
open until 1 o’ clock at night. Young people were offered a free tour and
were able to participate in themed workshops (yoga, massage). Dance and
DJ in the Horta Hall: Timaxx, DJ Shanu, PANJABI MC (2,200 visitors).
START Young people can attend the activities in the Centre for Fine
Arts at a discount. With BOZARSTART they pay only ¤ 5.00 for
an exhibition, concert or performance (504 START booklets sold in
2007).
STUDIO ICTUS Studio Modern – 18.03
Soloists from the Ictus Ensemble support students in the Queen
Elisabeth College of Music and the Belgian music conservatories with
advice and activities. The result could be heard during three miniconcerts
(200 concertgoers and 22 participating musicians).
Partner: Ictus
Photo : Lydie Nesvadba
TEACHERS At the start of a new exhibition period or concert season,
BOZAR STUDIOS always organizes teachers’ days (1,500 participants).
Teachers also receive a discount for the exhibition. 1,194 teachers
made use of this. Lesson folders for primary and secondary education
are produced for the large exhibitions and musical events.
5. The middle aged and senior citizens
EXPOTOURS and THE BUILDING Under the guidance of the guide
coordinator, 55 freelance guides took groups round the exhibitions and
the building. The guides are art historians who are trained during study
days and on model tours. The study days consist of lectures by specialists
and guided tours in other exhibitions or museums. The model tours
are led by the curators of the exhibitions. Every Sunday there are regular
tours for individual visitors. Building at 12.00 (ENG, NL and FR) – exhibition:
13:30 (ENG), 15:00 (NL) and 15:30 (FR)).
39

BOZARPLUSDAYS The days for senior citizens are the perfect way to
discover the Centre for Fine Arts and its cultural activities. A theatre performance
or concert preceded by an introduction is followed by a visit to
the exhibition and a warm meal (participation 750 senior citizens).
6. Events
PARTY TIME- 22.04 This colourful day has a programme of activities
for the whole family. For a mere ¤ 5.00 the visitor can go everywhere,
and children under the age of 12 are admitted free of charge. In 2007
the theme was China, with the focus on the eye-catching exhibition The
Forbidden Empire. The performances, exhibitions, concerts, music workshops,
calligraphy, guided tours, activities in the Horta Hall and the
Chinese lion dance attracted more than 2,700 visitors.
Organization
BOZAR STUDIOS has its own space in the Centre for Fine Arts: a
reception area, multipurpose workshops and a picnic place for schools
and families. The youngest children can go to the crèche. With its own
kitchen and small garden, the STUDIOS are an attractive place to visit.
For every exhibition period BOZAR STUDIOS also builds a studio, an
area for creativity in the middle of the exhibition space.
The cooperation with numerous partners will continue: Jeugd en
Muziek Brussel, Jeunesses Musicales de Bruxelles, National Orchestra
of Belgium, Rideau de Bruxelles, BRONKS, ReMuA, ART BASICS for
CHILDREN, Jeunesse et Arts Plastiques, Ictus, Recyclart, Rasa vzw,
etc. They are all partners with the necessary expertise in their field:
music, theatre. contemporary art, etc.
FESTIVAL WEEKENDS BOZAR STUDIOS organizes workshops
with artists (dance, music, cookery, storytelling) and lectures for children,
families and adults.
Balkan Festival– 14.04 (304 participants)
Congo Festival– 20.10 (250 participants)
OTHER ACTIVITIES The Centre for Fine Arts takes part in a number
of initiatives to encourage visitors. On the initiative of the federal Social
Integration Minister the Belgian CPAS/OCMW receive an extra subsidy
for the organization of cultural and/or sports activities. Together
with the ten other federal scientific institutes, and in collaboration with
social workers, special formulas are drawn up for a supervised visit. People
who have an ‘Article 27’ ticket can go to all the exhibitions and performances
for ¤ 1,25. For those who are involved in the social project
of the Monnaie/Munt, BOZAR STUDIOS offers ten free tickets, together
with the Monnaie/Munt.
40

II. A wide range of styles
41

III Friends of
BOZAR
43

BO
ZAR
FUN
DING
The project
The Centre for Fine Arts obtains its funds from
government subsidies, ticket sales and to some
extent also from commercial activities. BOZAR
FUNDING is responsible for this last aspect.
The department develops and maintains the
relationships with the business community. For
this purpose it makes use of all the opportunities
the Centre for Fine Arts can offer and is aware of
the strategies and requirements of the corporate
partners. The commercial activities take place in
the following fields:
– advertising
– sponsorship
– corporate events
Advertising
In 2007 the turnover of publicity in the house publications accounted
for 4.2% of the total turnover. The package contains the BOZAR
MAGAZINE (a monthly magazine, which comes out 10 times a year),
concert programmes and annual brochures (BOZAR MUSIC, BOZAR
EXPO, BOZAR STAGE AND SCREEN). In 2007 the publicity in
the BOZAR MAGAZINE was contracted out to the Media Selling
Space bureau. They achieved an increase of 30% in the income from
advertising.
Sponsorship
Approximately 66% of the turnover of BOZAR FUNDING comes
from sponsorship. A structural partnership is being developed with
a limited number of businesses (horizontal approach). In addition,
specific sponsors are also attracted for concerts and exhibitions (vertical
approach). The returns of the National Lottery are also managed by
BOZAR FUNDING in exchange for a subsidy.
– Structural: the Centre for Fine Arts has five large sponsors. In 2007
there was a change in the group of structural partners. Akzo Nobel
ended its partnership. It was replaced by SIGMA Coatings. SONY
became a new partner in addition to Belgacom, BMW, and SUEZ.
– Project specific: the successful year of 2006 with support from
corporate sponsors for two large exhibitions, did not continue in
2007. Not a single sponsor was found for any exhibition project.
This was probably related to the strong presence in the other cultural
institutions; 2007 was also a Europalia year. However, private visits
were organized for the exhibitions. The share of income from
exhibitions amounts to 6%.
2007 was a wonderful year for concert sponsorship with top concerts
such as that of Cecilia Bartoli. The concert sponsorship and the formula
of business seats accounted in 2007 for 11% of the income, an increase
of 30.8% compared with 2006.
Corporate events
Increasingly the Centre for Fine Arts receives requests from the business
community to organize events. In addition to the standard packages
of nocturnes and concert evenings, requests are increasing to hire one
or more of the reception halls in the Centre for Fine Arts for a private
44

III. Friends of BOZAR
event. In 2007 the Centre for Fine Arts welcomed about 30 businesses
for parties for their personnel, conferences, receptions, private concerts,
dinners, prizegivings, etc.
It was an important year for hiring out rooms. In 2006 an events
coordinator was employed and in 2007 a catering manager. This was
a large step forward for the services provided. Since 2007, businesses
have been able to choose from a range of catering possibilities by 10
different caterers for their receptions. Parameters such as quality and
price, as well as bilingual personnel played a role in this. There will be
an evaluation in 2008 on the basis of the efficiency and satisfaction of
the clients.
Corporate events account for 8.3% of the total turnover of BOZAR
FUNDING. When the renovation work has been completed there will
be more rooms available. It goes without saying that the organization
always takes place with respect for the artistic programming.
Membership
The group of patrons of the Centre for Fine Arts provides essential
support for the artistic programming. Since September 2007 there
have been three categories: the BOZAR PATRONS, the YOUNG
PATRONS, and the CORPORATE PATRONS. In September
2007 the existing formula BOZAR FRIENDS was renamed MY
BOZAR. The annual contribution and the advantages have remained
approximately the same, but this category of members will in the
future be managed by the Communication Department.
BOZAR PATRONS BOZAR PATRONS can go to all the concerts
of BOZAR MUSIC, participate in private nocturnes, previews of
exhibitions, film, dance and theatre productions. Furthermore they are
personally welcomed at the special ‘PATRONS’ desk, have a private
cloakroom and their own bar. They can participate in exclusive cultural
trips abroad (in 2007: Leipzig, Dresden, Washington and New York).
Tax deductions are an important incentive for those members who
can make use of this formula. Shortly after the annual press conference
the Patrons come together at a dinner where the new artistic season is
introduced. At the end of 2007 there were 245 BOZAR PATRONS.
BOZAR CORPORATE PATRONS This is a new formula which
was introduced in September 2007. It is intended both for the
management and the employees of one and the same company. The
members of the board of directors (4 people per membership) enjoy
the same advantages as the BOZAR PATRONS. They are also given
the opportunity to take an exclusive tour behind the screens of the
Centre. Once a year, they are given a 25% reduction for hiring the
rooms. They are invited to a lunch with the management where the
programme of the next season is revealed for the first time. In this
way they are given an opportunity for their names to be linked to the
artistic project. The formula gives the employees of the same company
the opportunity to register personally as a BOZAR PATRON or
YOUNG PATRON at a very attractive rate.
BOZAR YOUNG PATRONS The year 2007 was the third season for the
BOZAR YOUNG PATRONS. This circle consists of young managing
employees, entrepreneurs and officials from Belgium and abroad. The
great diversity means that the contacts are all the more fascinating.
Every season YOUNG PATRONS can select 40 free tickets from a
monthly list. In addition, they are also regularly invited to the openings
and exclusive tours in the large exhibitions, premieres of films and the
annual dinner where the next season is presented.
The great flexibility of the system of reservations is highly appreciated by
the members who often have a busy and unpredictable diary. At the end
of 2007 there were 44 members of BOZAR YOUNG PATRONS.
45

Cultural
partners
In Belgium
During 2007 the Centre for Fine Arts cooperated with a growing
number of cultural partners. These include both occasional partnerships
and structural cooperation with about twenty organizations.
The majority of the cultural partners with which the Centre cooperates
on a regular basis, each with its own identity, are established in the same
administrative rooms as the team of the Centre for Fine Arts. They
regularly put on a varied programme for which the Centre cannot be
wholly responsible on its own. Their activities guarantee a better balance
and attract a varied public. The existing contracts, in particular with the
Royal Belgian Film Archive, Jeunesse et Arts plastiques, the Centre
d’Information de l’Architecture, de l’Urbanisme et du Design (CIAUD-
ICASD), the architecture periodical A+, Exploration du Monde and the
Rideau de Bruxelles were observed to everyone’s satisfaction in 2007.
The annual contract with Young Belgian Painters was renewed.
In anticipation of the completion of the renovated rooms of the Royal
Belgian Film Archive, most films were shown in the alternative room,
the Central Gate auditorium. Rideau de Bruxelles is temporarily
accommodated in the premises next to the Centre for Fine Arts in the
Villa Hermosastraat.
The most important cultural partners are:
Les Agrémens
Amadeo Productions
Amarant
AmuseeVous
Argos
Ars Musica
ART BASICS for
CHILDREN
Artexis
AT Production
Bari
Het beschrijf
BITC
B.P.S.22 Project
Le Botanique
British Council
Broodje Brussel/OPB
BRONKS Jeugdtheater
Brusselse Museumraad
Centre culturel ING
Centre international
de formation en arts
du spectacle/Bruxelles
(CIFAS)
Chapelle Musicale
Reine Elisabeth
Charleroi Danses
Chœur de Chambre de
Namur
CIAUD - ICASD
Cinémathèque Royale
de Belgique
Concours Musical
International Reine
Elisabeth
Conseil bruxellois des
Musées
Conservatoire Royal de
Musique de Bruxelles
Culture et Tourisme,
Cathédrale Saints
Michel et Gudule
Cultuurnet Vlaanderen
Davidsfonds
deFilharmonie
Emigrative Art
Exploration du Monde
fABULEUS
Festival van Vlaanderen
Brussel – Europa
Festival de Wallonie
Les Films du Présent
Flagey
Fondation Europalia
International
Fondation Magritte
Fonds Mercator
FotoMuseum Provincie
Antwerpen
Gezinsbond
Goethe Institut
Les Halles de
Schaerbeek
Ictus
ikob (Museum für
Zeitgenössische Kunst
Eupen)
Jeugd en Muziek
Brussel
Jeunesse et Arts
Plastiques
Jeunesses Musicales de
Bruxelles
Jeune Peinture Belge
Kaaitheater
Klara
KlaraFestival
Klasse
Koninklijk
Muziekconservatorium
van Brussel
Kunstenplatform
Ligue des familles
MAC’s
Middagen van Poëzie
en Proza
Mont des Arts
Moussem
Musée de la
Photographie à
Charleroi
Royal Museums of Fine
Arts Belgium
Musiques Nouvelles
Needcompany
NICC Antwerpen
Office de Promotion du
Tourisme
Onthaal en Promotie
Brussel
Opéra de Wallonie
Orfeus Instituut
Orchestre National de
Belgique
Orchestre
Philharmonique de
Liège
Passa Porta
Patrick De Brock
Gallery
Printemps Baroque du
Sablon
Promotion des Lettres
belges de langue
française
Radiophonic Festival
Rasa vzw
ReMuA - Réseau de
Musiciens intervenants
en Ateliers
Ricercar Consort
Rideau de Bruxelles
RTBF Musiq’3
Théâtre Royal de la
Monnaie
Toerisme Vlaanderen
Troubleyn/Jan Fabre
vlaamsekunstcollectie
Vlaamse Radio Orkest
Vaartkapoen
WCC Zuiderpershuis
46

III. Friends of BOZAR
Abroad
ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation) is an association of
the directors of the most prestigious concert halls in Europe. This
organization aims to bring about more cultural exchanges, and
endeavours to put on works on different stages. In 2007 ECHO covered
sixteen concert halls, including the Centre for Fine Arts.
The association supports young artists with the Rising Stars concerts
which are on the Sunday morning programme in the Centre for Fine
Arts. In addition, ECHO commissions works from composers who
work together with other artists in an interdisciplinary way. I am a
mistake, a work commissioned from Wolfgang Rihm, Jan Fabre and
Chantal Akerman, premiered in December. With regard to the visual
arts, temporary cooperation contracts were concluded with foreign
museums and art centres, positioning the Centre for Fine Arts in the
European network.
The members of ECHO 2007 were:
Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam
Athens Concert Hall Organization
L’Auditori de Barcelona
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Symphony Hall Birmingham
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles
Elbphilharmonie & Laeiszhalle
Hamburg
Kölner Philharmonie
Salle de Concerts Grande-Duchesse
Joséphine-Charlotte de Luxembourg
Barbican Centre London
South Bank Centre London
Cité de la Musique Paris
Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris
Konserthuset Stockholm
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in
Wien
Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft
Other international partners with which the Centre for Fine Arts
carried out co-productions included, inter alia:
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
München
British Council
BMEP - British Music Education
Project
Festival Temps d’Images / EU
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
German Federal Cultural Foundation
ICCR - Indian Council for Cultural
Relations
London Symphony Orchestra
Lille 3000
Ministère de la Culture de Chine
Ministère de l’Economie et
l’Innovation du Portugal
Ministry of Culture (India)
National Museum New Delhi
Natural World Museum San
Francisco
Opéra de Lille
The Palace Museum Beijing
Smithsonian Institution Washington
D.C.
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Staatliche Museen Dresden
Turismo de Portugal
United Nations Environment
Programme
Photo : Julien Lanoo
47

International
mission
The project
One of the tasks of the Centre for Fine Arts consists of ‘developing and
implementing a multidisciplinary, integrated cultural programming
which contributes to the European and international image of the
federal state of Belgium, the Communities and the Brussels Capital
Region’.
In addition, the management agreement provides: ‘Given the status of
Brussels as the European capital, the Company presents the European
Commission and the European Parliament with projects which serve as
the basis for a European cultural activity, in which cultural diversity and
the mobility of artists and works of art are encouraged. In this context
the Company seeks for a specific cooperative venture and can conclude
appropriate agreements for this purpose’.
With this commitment, the Centre for Fine Arts aims to develop as
a breeding ground for the cultural Europe of the future. This involves
working out international initiatives as well as reviving new artistic
movements in Belgium.
Coproductions with the biennial Europalia Festival fit this mission
perfectly. Therefore the Centre for Fine Arts enthusiastically
committed itself to ensuring the success of the 2007 Festival devoted to
the 27 member states of the European Union (in the context of the 50 th
anniversary of the Treaty of Rome). In addition, the Centre is working
on other projects which fit into this international profile. In this way the
Centre for Fine Arts has developed to become the reference point for
international governmental and other institutions to carry out a project
of cooperation in the heart of the European capital.
Activities
Contacts have been established, negotiations conducted and/or projects
carried out with different countries. In 2007 these contacts were mainly
with Germany and Portugal (each time in the context of the Presidency
of these countries of the Council of the European Union). Intensive
negotiations and activities took place with Icelandic, Korean, French
and Swiss institutions to prepare for the exhibition projects in 2008.
In addition, exploratory talks were held for longer-term projects with
the Palestinian Territories, Turkey, Brazil, the Czech Republic and
Spain. Contacts were also made with countries such as Qatar, Taiwan
and South Africa.
Cooperative ventures with the European Parliament and the European
Commission were continued in 2007. The Centre for Fine Arts aims to
make an effort to bring citizens closer to Europe.
In 2006 a project-based cooperative venture developed with the
Federal Government Department for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade
and Development Cooperation. This will be extended over several years
and was expanded and implemented in 2007.
48

III. Friends of BOZAR
Photo : Julien Lanoo
49

IV BOZAR and
its audience
51

Marketing,
communication
and box office
The project
The Marketing and Communication department
is responsible for the communication of the
BOZAR project, the product marketing and
the promotion of all the products for the public
(tickets, catering, shop). The department
contributes to the presentation of the institute
as an art centre, elaborates the BOZAR cultural
brand and is in charge of welcoming the public.
1. MYBOZAR
This new formula replaces the BOZARCARD, BOZARCLUB and
BOZARFRIENDS. It is a combination of a membership and a client
card (with a related discount on the ticket price).
Cost price: ¤ 49.00 per year
Advantages:
• 10 per cent discount on individual tickets
• 10 per cent discount on purchases in the BOZARSHOP
• 1 free entrance ticket to the Centre’s Party Time
• 2 free entrance tickets for one or two exhibitions of the member’s
choice
• 2 free entrance tickets for one or two performances of Young Film
Fans
• 1 free guided tour From Horta to Horta on Sunday afternoon
• 1 invitation to the new year concert
• programmes for the concerts and performances
• invitations to the previews of BOZAR EXPO
• subscription to BOZARMAGAZINE
• exclusive benefits about which the public will be informed by e-mail.
2. Press office
Three full-time Press Officers work in the press office. They represent
the EXPO, MUSIC and TDLC departments (THEATRE, DANCE,
LITERATURE and CINEMA). The STUDIOS join in with the other
disciplines for their communication. This structure makes it possible to
respond to the most diverse questions of the specialist press.
The press office covers all the national press, both the written and the
audiovisual media. Specific efforts are made as regards the international
press. Foreign correspondents in Brussels are contacted for the large
52

IV. BOZAR and its audience
exhibitions, or for specific events – for example, the Portuguese press
about the Portugal Festival.
Since January 2007 the press office has worked with a press agency in
Paris which has personal contacts with the French press in the field
of culture, lifestyle and tourism. During a press trip, twenty French
journalists visited the exhibitions Views on Europe, Visit[e] and The
Forbidden Empire. France 2, Connaissance des Arts, L’oeil, Beaux Arts
magazine, Arts Antiques Auctions and Art Actuel reported on these.
In cooperation with OPT (Office for the Promotion of Tourism in
Wallonia-Brussels) and Tourism Flanders, press trips were organized
for the German, French and Spanish press. For the Portugal Festival
there were press trips from Brussels to Washington and Lisbon. For
the Iceland Festival, which takes place in 2008, there was a press trip
in October 2007 with 17 journalists from the most important Belgian
media.
The press office also plays a role in the positioning of the Centre for
Fine Arts and the management. The renovation work, the opening of
the BOZARSHOP, the new uniforms of the reception personnel and
the second mandate of Paul Dujardin as director-general were all key
moments about which the different media were informed.
A total of three hundred press releases were sent, i.e., almost one
a day. The press can find the information on a specific section on
the website and receives press releases with illustrated templates by
e-mail.
The annual press conference was split into two parts: the introduction
to the musical programme on 19 March and the presentation of the
general programme on 22 May. Altogether there were thirty press
conferences in 2007, each relating to a brand new project.
3. Audience development
1. BOZAR MUSIC
Informing the musical public takes place with the tried and tested
means, such as the annual brochures, the magazine, the website and the
newsletter. New target groups were also approached. This is done by
means of targeted mailshots to datafiles (which have been purchased),
the targeted distribution of printed matter, campaigns with social and
cultural partners (such as the Davidsfonds, authorities, universities).
Campaigns are also planned with commercial partners (Atos Worldline,
Fortis, Fresh). Embassies and cultural institutes in Belgium are supported
to promote international artists who appear on our stages.
In order to attract a broader public the concerts are sometimes
linked to general themes. This is the case with end of year concerts, a
Closing concert, a Valentine concert, and minifestivals with their own
branding.
The discovery subscriptions were launched this year for the second
time. Despite the limited communication budget, about 300 discovery
subscriptions were sold once again.
The Classicarte formula (a selection of 7 concerts for 75 euros) was
again available in 2007. This subscription formula was also supported
and promoted by Musiq’3. This year 333 subscriptions were sold, a fall
compared to last season. During a campaign focused on the Frenchspeaking
music schools, more than 4,000 tickets were sold. This
campaign was subsidised by the French-speaking Community.
The performance of world music increased significantly in 2007.
16,000 visitors attended more than twenty concerts. The community
in Belgium who come from the artist’s country of origin are explicitly
approached as a target group: the communication is theme-based: it is
linked to exhibitions and a festival.
53

2. BOZAR EXPO
The provision of exhibitions had a strong international flavour. We
also went abroad to promote them: for workshops, the Uitmarkt in
Amsterdam and the Brussels Day in Paris.
The communication and promotion are complex and labour-intensive,
in view of the very diverse character of the exhibitions. There is still a
great deal of potential: more targeted campaigns, reaching a public that
is already familiar with Bozar, drawing up new partnerships. A limited
capacity means that a great deal of this potential remained unexploited
in 2007.
The permanent partners include Tourism Flanders, OPT and BITC
(which are respectively responsible for promoting Flanders, Brussels/
Wallonia and Brussels as tourist destinations). In addition, partnerships
developed in connection with the subjects that were presented and
possible interested target groups. The cooperation with the respective
embassies and tourist services of Germany, China and Portugal was
crucially important for promoting the exhibitions in 2007. New
cooperative ventures were achieved with Countdown, the Dutch
Museum year card and the art magazine (H)ART.
In addition, the Centre for Fine Arts is involved in district-based and/
or Brussels initiatives such as the Museum Nocturnes and the Night of the
Brussels Museums organized by the Brussels Museum Council, initiatives
for the institutes on the ‘hill of the arts’ by Mont des Arts/Kunstberg
vzw, Brussels Day in Paris by BITC, the Cocon project by BBOT/BNA
(Brussels belongs to us), etc.
Research into the public profile and visitor satisfaction should help
to make the most of the communication. In addition, there are
new initiatives, such as the visitors’ guides produced for a number of
exhibitions, ‘finissages’ at the end of exhibitions for a young public and
the new BOZARSTART formula, which was introduced on a large scale
for exhibitions. The opening of the long-awaited BOZARSHOP is an
extra attraction for visiting the exhibitions.
3. BOZAR THEATRE, DANCE, LITERATURE, CINEMA
The annual brochure Stage and Screen was produced for the third
time. The new lay-out places a stronger emphasis on the groundbreaking
aspect. It was for this reason, amongst others, that we did not opt for a
subscription formula for 2007-2008. However, combi tickets per theme
and therefore with a cross-disciplinary character, were encouraged
during the course of the season. Groups and associations were also given
a 10 per cent discount.
This time the brochure was sent out before the summer holiday. The
seasonal brochures of the other centres were also published at that time
and this meant that BOZAR Stage and Screen could present itself in a
particular way in the landscape of the dramatic arts. Interested parties
could apply for the new brochure via promotional campaigns, inter
alia, in De Morgen and De Tijd. This also made it possible to extend the
mailing list. 7,500 people were sent the brochure by a direct mailshot.
The timing of the brochure also has an influence on pre-sales. In future
this should be taken into account to an even greater extent. Special
attention must also be paid to setting the ticket prices for the dramatic
arts and cinema in 2008.
In 2007 surveys were also carried out for the first time amongst the
public for the dramatic arts and cinema. An analysis is planned for the
second half of 2008.
For Theatre and Literature at Lunchtime 12,000 copies of the
folder were sent out. Because of the success of the direct mailshot, an
extra run of 5,000 copies followed in October 2007. The performances
for schools were full almost immediately. At the end of the semester
the loyal Lunchtime audiences were rewarded with a free ticket for
the current exhibition. The permanent partner for the lunch formula,
Onthaal en Promotie Brussel (OPB), renewed the lay-out of its
monthly folder Broodje Brussel, which means it can devote more text
to performances. In addition, Fed+ (federal government) also included
the range in its calendar again.
54

IV. BOZAR and its audience
Photo : Vinciane Pierart
Cinema
Flagey, the Film Archive and BOZAR CINEMA once again presented
a joint brochure. In 2007 the Centre for Fine Arts opted for a seasonal
folder rather than flyers for every production. This was to once again
provide the family public with a survey of all the performances after all
the changes in the Young Film Fans formula.
Pre-sales increased as a result. 10,000 copies of the folder were
distributed, not only to BOZAR’s family and cinemagoing public,
but also at family events. In future a single rate applies for Young
Film Fans: the rate for the BOZARSUNDAYS Good Morning,
including breakfast. The Young Film Fans are also included in the
BOZARPASSPORT savings card. For 2008 there are plans for joint
communication with other cultural centres which show children’s
films and for a Brussels festival of children’s films.
Expanding Cinema once again had a very wide-ranging programme
this year. Co-productions with specialist centres such as Argos and
Radiophonic meant that some audiences moved to the Centre for the
first time. In future the communication for this aspect will be done by
e-mail more often. Instead of flyers, there will also be small A3 posters
for the institutes of higher education in Brussels, mediatheques etc.
Building up a permanent public and extending the database continues
to be a priority for this. The link with the communication and the
press for contemporary exhibitions must be strengthened even further
in 2008. There was an unusual initiative to announce the sound poet
Henri Chopin: a Youtube film appeared on the website.
The number of big name Previews increased significantly in 2007. These
were communicated in fairly traditional way: flyers with a circulation
varying from 5,000 to 7,000 copies, direct mailshots and/or paper
mailshots to the cinemagoing public, radio spots and advertisements,
e–mails, announcements in BOZARMAGAZINE and on the website.
There was also room for an experiment for the young public: the very
first Festival of the Pocket Film in Belgium. A great deal of attention
was devoted to this in the Belgian press. A flyer was made in the shape
of a mobile telephone, and a competition was organized in cooperation
with the partners AT-production and Cinepocket.
In 2008 BOZAR CINEMA will have to make changes. Its position in
the Brussels landscape, the cooperation with partners, co-producers and
sponsors, the frequency of the film shows and the prices are important
factors for a new communication strategy.
Literature
For Cinema Racista the cooperation with the Passa Porta Festival
was evident, even in the brochure. In addition, A3-posters were made
and there were e-mailshots, radio spots and advertisements. The
communication with the schools was continued in cooperation with
BOZAR STUDIOS.
For the first time a series of lectures was organized with French
philosophers, Dans les Plis du Présent | In de Plooien van het Heden
(In the folds of the present). A university public was addressed with the
support of the partner, Emigrative Art. It was promoted by a poster
campaign, radio spots and advertisements and digital newsletters. A
loyal public who had not been to the Centre before for this type of event
developed during the series.
Stichting Ons Erfdeel (Our Heritage) organized a literary event
around writers from Europe and included BOZAR LITERATURE in
the invitation to its 10,000 members.
The series of lectures with well-known and less well-known Portuguese
writers Le tour du monde lusophone | De Portugeestalige wereld
rond (Round the Portuguese language world) was featured in the Portugal
Festival|EXPO brochure. The Portuguese language communities in
Belgium were sent a detailed newsletter. The literary programme was
translated into Portuguese and was distributed by the Portuguese
bookshop Orfeu and by the literary circuit in Brussels, amongst other
places. The public at the Book Fair in Antwerp was addressed for the
55

Party Time : chinese music
first time, with signing sessions and flyers. The folders accompanied
the books in cooperation with the five publishers of the Portuguese
writers.
Theatre and Dance
For Antje Pfundtner and the cooperation with Christine Angot
and Mathilde Monnier a close cooperation was developed with the
Halles de Schaerbeek, with big posters. The six participating cultural
centres in the project France Dance launched a brochure via the French
embassy. Compagnia Pippo Delbono was advertised with a large-scale
poster campaign, advertisements and radio spots and a small flyer in
cooperation with Théâtre de la Place in Liège. Once again many Italians
attended the performance because of the good cooperation with the
Istituto Italiano di Cultura. The interactive installation From Inside
by Thierry De Mey was mainly advertised to a dance audience: in the
brochure of Charleroi Danses, with e-mails and a radio spot.
There were two waves of promotion for the Münchner Kammerspiele,
directed by Johan Simons. The Centre for Fine Arts produced 5,000
copies of the first flyer, which was also distributed by NT Gent. The
second flyer mainly reached the cinemagoing public. In addition, the
communication comprised advertisements, radio spots and digital
newsletters. The Centre cooperated with the Polish Embassy, the Dutch
Embassy, the Bavarian Staatskanzlei, the EFA (European Festivals
Association), the ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts)
and the Royal Film Archive.
10,000 copies of a flyer were produced for I am a mistake by Jan Fabre,
as well as a paper mailshot to the music, film, and theatregoing public.
The campaigns were supported by posters, radio spots, advertisements
and digital newsletters. The Ars Musica public was also addressed.
In April BOZARCOM organized the Soirée Armée with the partner
AmuseeVous: a museum party with dance, theatre, literature, music
and performance. Many of the young people (aged 16 to 26) had never
visited the Centre before. The BOZARSTART formula was promoted
on the evening itself. Thanks to AmuseeVous BOZAR took part in the
wristband campaign for the festival visitors to Werchter during the
summer. When they showed the wristband, the visitors were given free
tickets for the current summer exhibitions. The Coup de Coeurs of the
BOZAR employees was advertised with stickers in the exhibition. The
soundscape of Girls in Hawaii, which was specially composed for Sara
Vanagt’s work in the exhibition of Young Belgian Painters, could be
heard on the CD.
The Student conference attended by 2,400 students was organized on
5 and 6 November in cooperation with the Marketing Foundation. No
fewer than 500 BOZARSTART addresses were collected during this
two-day event.
The Poetry Hacking Project was promoted together with NMK with
a banner on the website.
4. BOZAR STUDIOS
Children, families, primary and secondary schools, young people, adults
and senior citizens: BOZAR STUDIOS addresses very diverse target
groups. The activities are closely related to those of other BOZAR
departments, which increasingly devote attention to this sort transversal
activity. The loyalty of the different groups, particular schools and
families is ensured by means of set formulae.
The activities for children and families are accompanied by an icon on
the website, which results in greater visibility.
They are also used for the BOZARPASSPORT. This formula was
launched in 2007 during the Centre’s Party Time. This is a free discovery
passport for children between the ages of 6 and 12. They can personalise
the passport and bring it along to Bozar activities. When they have
56

IV. BOZAR and its audience
collected four stamps, they receive a gift. They can also win a stamp by
making a drawing of the BOZAR STUDIOS icon. BOZARPASSPORT
is a playful means of communication, even though the distribution is
still rather difficult.
There was a separate folder for the Party Time. The public was given
a unique opportunity to discover the Centre for Fine Arts in all its
diversity. A 5 euro pass gave access to the activities. Above all, the event
was a way of discovering the BOZAR STUDIOS department, which for
the first time concentrated on a particular theme during the 2007 Party
Time: China.
The BOZARSUNDAYS, family Sundays, are announced in a folder
that is published twice a year. The cooperation with La Ligue des
Familles and De Gezinsbond, the most important national partners,
was further strengthened. The members enjoy a 25 per cent discount on
various activities. 78,000 copies of the BOZARSUNDAYS folder were
distributed via Le Ligueur.
BOZAR STUDIOS was also present during the National Holiday (a
free photo session and entrance to the Ingenuity exhibition) and at the
Cultuurmarkt in Antwerp. There was a free show in connection with the
Christmas concert.
There is an annual brochure for schools. From May, posters are
distributed in schools so that teachers can apply for their brochures. A
reminder e-mail is sent for every exhibition season in September and
January. As updating the database and direct contact are extremely
important, telemarketing is also regularly used.
For teachers three meeting days based on the exhibitions were hold.
For the Dutch-speaking side this was advertised in Klasse, an umbrella
magazine which does not exist for French-speaking education, where
teachers register on the website. An evening was also organized
round the formula Klassiek met Klasse. The teacher’s price applies for
exhibitions all the year round. Dutch-speaking primary schools in
Brussels receive a 50 per cent discount for exhibitions, subsidised by
the Flemish Community Commission.
An original campaign for the BOZARSTART formula targeted young
people under the age of 26. The theme was the journey and access to
culture. A baggage label was distributed in the Student Pack for institutes
of higher education and universities (100,000 copies) and in the College
Pack for school leavers (25,000 copies). This was linked to a competition
in which the prize was a plane ticket from Brussels to Lisbon. Almost
500 young people took part. BOZARSTART was also promoted
during the summer festivals, on the Day of the Student, during events
in the Centre. Sales rocketed and the formula became very well known.
Finissage Club India, the young people’s event of the year, attracted
more than a thousand visitors.
In 2007 the days for senior citizens were renamed BOZAR-
PLUSDAYS. Dutch-speaking associations of senior citizens are well
represented. On the French-speaking side cooperation was realised
with Carte S, which resumed its activities.
4. Media planning
The cooperation with the permanent sponsors was extended in 2007:
Roularta Media Group, RTBF, VRT, TV Brussel, De Morgen, Le Soir.
BOZAR also cooperated with new partners:
• announcement of the competition in the magazine Pays du Nord (Lille
and the north of France) for the exhibition Treasures old and new from
Wallonia;
• annual contract with the magazine Afilyatis, sent to euro employees in
Brussels;
• annual promotional and editorial contract with the Belgian art
magazine (H)Art;
57

• annual contract with the Nato personnel magazine.
The partnership with Knack-Club is extended to Club Vif. There is a 10
per cent discount.
For the Iceland festival On the Edge the Center cooperated with the
young video artist Thom Vander Beken for a spot on RTBF and TV
Brussel. Other TV spots were realised for the exhibitions The Forbidden
Empire, Views on Europe and Encompassing the Globe.
There is an agreement with the French magazine Connaissance des Arts to
send the exhibition brochure to the subscribers in the Paris region.
An address list of interested people was produced by participating in
the campaign ‘Cultural brochures’ of De Morgen, De Standaard, Zone, De
Tijd, L’écho and the Publicarto titles.
5. Website
2007 was wholly devoted to the analysis and development of
MYBOZAR (site version 2). This was done in three stages: test
development, update of the internal structure, implementation.
Modifications were made regularly. A gallery tool was also installed.
This makes high resolution photographs taken during the activities
accessible to the press and public.
Average number of visitors per day : 2,800
Average number of unique visitors per day (unique IPs): 1,700
Geographical
Top 10 municipalities/cities
origin:
in Belgium:
77% Belgium Elsene/Ixelles
6.55% The Netherlands Schaarbeek
4.42% Luxembourg Brussels 1000
3.45% France Etterbeek
1.54% The UK Antwerp
1.37% Germany Ghent
Jette
Grimbergen
Leuven
Evere
Average time spent: 3 minutes
Most visited pages:
1. activity page (via search engines and links on other sites)
2. diary page (search on calendar)
3. home page per discipline
4. information pages
Number of subscribers to the newsletter: 12,588
Ratio FR/Dutch: 52/48%
Ratio man/woman: 52/48 %
6. Total visitors 2007
Productions Centre for Fine Arts 744.506
Productions third party and events 201.727
Funding, Musée du Cinéma/Filmmuseum, BOZARSHOP 100.000
Total 1.046.233
58

IV. BOZAR and its audience
Box office
BOZAR TICKETS
In 2007 the box office of the Centre for Fine Arts sold almost 700,000
tickets. Half of these were for the exhibitions.
Baroque du Sablon and the Charlemagne Orchestra was resumed
in a fruitful way. The Conservatory of Brussels and the Théâtre du
Vaudeville made use of a specific service of the reservation office.
Online sales are increasing. In 2007 29,000 tickets were sold online
(+ 25%). An agreement with Classictic, which specialises in classical
music and opera, makes it possible to organize online sales at an
international level.
The BOZARTICKETS department used four sales outlets: the shop
in the Ravenstein gallery and the call centre (where all the products
are for sale) and also in the Horta Hall and in the entrance on the Rue
Royale/Koningsstraat (for the exhibitions). During the summer months
there was another location: tickets were sold for the exhibition Visit(e)
in the ING Cultural Centre. Extra desks were also regularly placed in
the Centre for nocturnes, last minutes and special events, such as Party
Time. A new system of barcodes makes it possible to check the validity
of the ticket at the entrance to the exhibition. It was introduced for the
autumn exhibitions (europalia-europa and Portugal).
The call centre continues to provide a diverted reservation service
from Flagey. The calls for Rideau de Bruxelles also go there, as do the
requests for guided tours organized by BOZAR EXPO and BOZAR
STUDIOS.
A new seating plan with four price categories was introduced for
BOZAR MUSIC. It is better adapted to the acoustic reality of the
Henry Le Boeuf Hall. The plan also applies for other disciplines, which
means that one approach can be used for all ticket prices.
New formulae such as the discovery subscriptions and BOZARGIFT
were extremely successful. MYBOZAR, a membership with significant
financial advantages, was successfully launched.
BOZARTICKETS also guaranteed a reservation office for third
parties. The cooperation with Flagey, Ars Musica, the Printemps
59

The
Centre for
Fine Arts
in the press
On the BOZARSHOP
‘A l’instar du Palais de Tokyo à Paris ou du
MoMA à New York, le Palais des Beaux-Arts
à Bruxelles se dote d’une boutique qui vaut le
voyage. Sur près de 350 m², le tout nouveau
Bozarshop proposera la crème du livre d’art,
une offre pointue de CD et de DVD mais aussi
du design bien de chez nous.’
(Le Vif/L’Express, 02.11.2007)
On the exhibition ‘Views
on Europe’
‘Kulturell präsentiert sich Deutschland in der
Europa-Hauptstadt mit dieser Ausstellung
einmal als grosse Nation und nicht als zankende
Kleinstaaterei.’
(Eckard Fuhr in Die Welt, 08.03.2007)
‘Seit zwanzig Jahren hat es keine solche
Gesamtschau mehr gegeben. Und überhaupt
noch nie gab es eine Ausstellung, für die sich,
wie jetzt in Brüssel, drei der grössten deutsche
Kunstmuseen (...) zusammengetan haben.’
(Andreas Kilb in Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung, 09.03.2007)
On the exhibition
‘The Forbidden Empire’
‘The Forbidden Empire is the first exhibition anywhere
to interleave Chinese and western paintings across five
centuries, from about 1450 to 1950. It has just opened at
Bozar, Brussels art deco people’s palace, before travelling
in the summer to the Palace Museum in Beijing, and no
one interested in east-west cultural dialogue will want to
miss it.’
(Jackie Wullschlager in The Financial Times,
02.02.2007)
‘Breng vijfhonderd jaar Vlaamse en Chinese schilderkunst
samen en je schept een wereld van verschil. Toch wekt
de artistieke confrontatie in het Brusselse Paleis voor
Schone Kunsten niet de indruk van een botsing tussen
culturen, maar creëert ze interacties van voorstellingen
en hun achterliggende visie op leven en wereld.’
(Sabine Alexander in Tertio, 07.03.2007)
‘Luc Tuymans en Yu Hui hebben een strakke expo
gemaakt. Met veel wit en ademruimte. De kunst uit
China is een ontdekking, en uit Vlaanderen haalde
Tuymans veel verborgens. Het verboden rijk scherpt
onze blik voor kunst uit oost en west. En voor de kloof
daartussen.’
(Eric Rinckhout in De Morgen, 21.02.2007)
‘Aucune nécessité interne n’irrigue ce propos, pas
le moindre fil rouge, aussi riche soit l’exposition en
oeuvres de qualité. Aucun argument pour fonder cette
confrontation. Un peu comme si on mettait en parallèle
et sans autre forme de procès l’oiseau et le poisson, le
chien et le chat, l’eau et le feu.’
On the exhibition
‘Encompassing the globe’
‘Het is een boeiende, goed gedoseerde,
ronduit schitterende expositie vol
sprankelend raffinement.’ (Eric
Rinckhout in De Morgen, 26.10.2007)
‘Le contenu de l’exposition, présentée
au Bozar après avoir été créée à
Washington, est d’une réelle densité.
Il rappelle surtout l’importance et la
diversité de l’Empire portugais à l’ère
glorieuse des grands navigateurs partis
à la découverte et à la conquête du
monde, très motivés, entre autres, par le
commerce des épices. D’où le parfum,
émanant d’une oeuvre contemporaine,
qui embaume l’exposition.’ (Laurence
Bertels in Le Soir, 26.10.2007)
‘Een kleine, maritieme natie schonk
Europa vijfhonderd jaar een enorme
toevloed aan kennis over de wereld. Over
het wereldwijde netwerk van versterkte
handelsposten van de Portugezen loopt
in Bozar de prachtige tentoonstelling
De wereld rond.’
(Eric Bracke in De Tijd, 27.10.2007)
(Danielle Gillemon in Le Soir, 21.02.2007)
60

IV. BOZAR and its audience
On the exhibition
‘The Grand Atelier’
‘Few shows of recent years have had the scope and
grandiose ambitions of this one.’
(Michael Glover in The Independent, 16.10.2007)
‘Les peintres n’ont pas attendu les fondateurs de la
CEE pour bouger, ni les marchands pour faire circuler
les œuvres. Pour preuve, la superbe mise en abyme de
la dernière salle, reconstruction du cabinet d’amateur,
figure le vertige d’un marché de l’art mondial à venir.’
(Sean James Rose, Libération, 08.01.2008)
‘Op het eerste gezicht biedt Het meesterlijke atelier
een verwarrende hoeveelheid stijlen en vormen.
Het onoverzichtelijke panorama is samengesteld
uit 350 objecten. Maar de tentoonstelling heeft
het onderwerp ook goed afgebakend. Veertien
sleutelmomenten, bijeengebracht in evenveel
‘kamers’, bieden telkens een ander perspectief op
de Europese kunstgeschiedenis. De scenografie is
zonder meer vernuftig.’
(Geert Van der Speeten in De Standaard,
10.10.2007)
‘Het meesterlijke atelier moet vooral een optimistische
Europese boodschap uitdragen en aantonen dat er
binnen de landen van de EU al eeuwenlang sprake is
geweest van een bloeiende uitwisseling van cultuur.
Aan bewijzen voor die stelling geen gebrek.’
(Erik Spaans in Het Financieele Dagblad,
27.10.2007)
On the concert of
Cecilia Bartoli
‘Bartoli sur scène, en chair et en os, c’est
l’étonnante symbiose d’une perfection
technique – à si peu de chose près – et d’une
virtuosité inouïe, un abattage tout en générosité
et de grande classe, l’alliage du plus minutieux
travail au plus parfait naturel.’
(Michèle Friche in Le Soir, 19.12.2007)
‘Het concert van Bartoli draaide rond vocale
glitter, maar bood spektakel van de bovenste
plank.’
(Véronique Rubens in De Standaard,
19.12.2007)
On the installation
‘From inside’
by Thierry De Mey
‘Le visiteur peut entrer dans la danse, choisir
son monde et sa musique. Une expérience
d’interactivité au sein de trois univers de
grande force.’
(Guy Duplat in La Libre Belgique,
03.04.2007)
On ‘the void’,
the architecture
exhibition by
Gonçalo Byrne and
Aires Mateus
’Leeg is more - Sterke architectuurexpo’s zijn
veeleer uitzondering dan regel. Bozar toont
stijlvolle stenen en bouwkunst die niet wil
opvallen uit de Portugese hoofdstad.’
(Els Fiers in Focus Knack, 31.10.2007)
61

V Behind the
scenes
63

Human
Resources
Statistics
On 31 December 2007, the Centre for Fine Arts had 222 full-time
equivalent employees, including temporary personnel. In fact a total of
365 employees are employed. Slightly more than half of the permanent
employees have been recruited by the limited company since 2002.
89% of the staff work on a contractual basis, 11% are in statutory
employment. 17% of the employees work part-time.
A good balance is scored between the number of male and female
employees in the Centre for Fine Arts: 50% of the permanent employees
are men and 50% are women. In the Management Team the ratio is
slightly different: 40% women to 60% men. Amongst the temporary
personnel the balance goes the other way: 59.2% women and 40.8%
men.
The Centre for Fine Arts implements an active policy on nondiscrimination.
93.5% of the personnel have Belgian nationality, 4.5%
are people from the rest of Europe and 2% are from non-European
countries. Looking at the origin of the employees we notice that 85.3%
were born in Belgium, 6.1% come from a different European country
and 8.6% come from outside Europe.
11%
89%
17%
83%
2%
5%
93%
Working status
■ statutory
■ contractual
Employment system
■ part-time
■ full-time
Nationalities
■ Belgium
■ other EU countries
■ non-EU countries
50%
40%
59%
50%
60%
41%
M/F
Permanent staff
■ male
■ female
M/F
Management Team
■ male
■ female
M/F
Temporary staff
■ male
■ female
In comparison with last year, the average ages shifted slightly: the
number of 35 to 44-year-olds increased in 2007 to 31%. The group of
45 to 65-year-olds fell to 37%. The share of 20 to 29-year-olds declined
to 14%, the group of 30 to 34- year-olds increased to 17%.
The ratio is different for the temporary staff: 18 to 34- year-olds
represent 61% of the employees. There was a significant increase in
the number of over-65s, 10% compared to 4% in 2006. This increase
applies particularly for the temporary staff who provides reception
services during evening activities.
9%
6%
85%
Origins
■ Belgium
■ other EU countries
■ non-EU countries
5% 8%
4%
8%
8%
3%
16%
48%
Year’s service
of permanent staff
■ 0 > 4 y
■ 5 > 9 y
■ 10 > 14 y
■ 15 > 19 y
■ 20 > 24 y
■ 25 > 29 y
■ 30 > 34 y
■ 35 > 39 y
The figures with regard to the years of service of the permanent staff
64

V. Behind the scenes
20 %
15 %
10 %
Age pyramid of permanent staff
followed a similar evolution to that of the age pyramid. As the majority
of the current personnel were recruited after 2002, there is a relatively
high percentage of employees who have been employed 0-4 years: 48%.
On the other hand, the people who were recruited before 2002 have
generally been employed for a long time: 36% have a seniority of at
least 10 years. 6 employees have been employed for between 35 and 40
years.
5 %
0
25 %
20 %
15 %
10 %
-20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 +60
years years years years years years years years years years
Age pyramid of temporary staff
Personnel and recruitment
Selection and recruitment are and continue to be the key tasks of this
department. No fewer than 3211 candidates applied for positions
spontaneously or applied for a job vacancy. 462 job interviews were
conducted, leading to 180 new (permanent and temporary) contracts.
A large share of these was for the reception departments and box office
(ticket sales).
At the moment there are 15 volunteers working in the organization,
mainly in the Archive and Marketing, Communication and Sales
departments.
A total of 37 students were on work experience in the Centre for Fine
Arts, including 3 international students from Greece, Germany and
America. 21 job students were taken on to replace permanent staff
during holiday periods.
5 %
0
-20 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 +60
years years years years years years years years years years
Modern human capital management
The efforts to integrate the new employees continued. Information
sessions, intake discussions and guided tours were organized for them.
At their start they were also given a BOZAR welcome package with a
detailed brochure and a little gift.
65

In order to increase the retention an internal mobility policy was
introduced. This was successful: in the course of the year, 15 people
changed jobs or were promoted. At the level of training, a study was
carried out of the needs in all the departments. Two employees in
the Human Resources department did a training course in the new
information technology system of OFO/IFA, the Belgian government
training institute. The number of enrolments for training increased
significantly, but in view of the waiting lists, the majority of these will
take place in 2008. In 2007 262 hours of training were followed.
A great deal of attention was devoted to a thorough modification of
the organization chart. The director of the Production department
was also charged with the management of the Technical department in
September. Since then he has been assisted by 3 managers (Production,
Exhibition and Performing Arts and Cleaning/Maintenance & Stock).
In the department a unit was also established which concentrates
on investments, safety and security. The creation of a Business
Development unit, managed by the director-general should make it
possible to outline the main artistic strengths in the long term.
Internal communication and working conditions
In a constantly growing organization such as the Centre, sound
internal communication is essential. With the appointment of a new
Internal Communication Officer, the internal communication policy
was revitalised. The flow of information is systematically improved,
the sense of involvement and motivation of the personnel is increased
and the constructive dialogue is promoted between management and
employees with an annual plan.
Some initiatives were taken such as the systematic distribution of
information and task-oriented communications and vacancies by email,
ad valvas and by intranet, to reach the broadest possible public; news
flashes by email with personal messages (births, marriages) and general
news; the conversion of the intranet into a user friendly and up-to-date
working instrument; a 2008 office calendar with a photograph of the
members of the personnel of one of the BOZAR departments every
month.
A new uniform was designed, both for the reception employees and for
the members of the Technical department. Visibility, ease of use and
comfort were the crucial criteria for choosing the uniform. The wishes
of the staff were taken into account as far as possible.
The personnel canteen was thoroughly renovated. The room was
refurbished and with the appointment of a new caterer there is now
an extensive choice of menus. In 2007, the Technical department was
the last to move to the Ravenstein Gallery, so that everyone once again
works together under one roof.
Social dialogue and the global prevention plan
At the beginning of 2007, the agreement was implemented which had
been concluded by the Joint Employer-Employee Committee at
the end of 2006. Members of personnel with hours of overtime were
once given the opportunity to have a maximum of 50% of these hours
paid out. The changes in the working regulations which had been
approved at the end of 2007 particularly had an effect on personnel in
the Technical services. A great deal of attention was devoted to clearly
communicating the changes: amongst other things with a letter and a
collective presentation to all those involved.
The first evaluation of the new working regulations was drawn up at the
end of 2007. The effect on the total number of hours of overtime was
still difficult to assess. However, there were still some questions about
the possibilities of overtime leave and about holidays. The Human
Resources department is trying to resolve these by communicating even
66

V. Behind the scenes
more clearly and more frequently. In addition, the heads of department
were given greater responsibility with regard to granting holidays and
overtime leave.
The possibility of taking over the activities from the social service
was examined. The first results were discussed at the Joint Employer-
Employee Committee. In 2008 a constructive dialogue will continue on
this subject, as well as on the salary policy.
The subcommittee for Accident Prevention and Protection at the
Workplace met 11 times and focused on the 2007 action plan. This
action plan is part of a global ‘well-being’ prevention plan for 2004-
2008. It is aimed at reducing the number of accidents and improving
safety and well-being at work.
At the beginning of November a new prevention advisor was appointed
on a full-time basis. He took over the tasks of the external prevention
advisor and will concentrate on continuing to modify and implement
the priorities with regard to the necessary investments related to safety
and working tools.
An effective social and salary administration
An efficient budget management
In order to tackle the increasing administrative pressure in the personnel
department and professionalise it further with the introduction of e-
HRM, it was decided to introduce a new social secretariat. Following
a contracting procedure, in consultation with the Finance and IT
departments, the choice was for Partena. The new programme has
all sorts of possibilities: a detailed database of personnel data, a large
range of statistics and reporting possibilities, more detailed salary
files, the computerisation of applications for holidays and overtime
leave, a completely computerised and detailed transfer of data to the
bookkeeping on salary expenses, a thorough budget control. The
preparatory work was carried out in 2007 so that the new programme
could be used from 1 January 2008.
The time registration system was also adapted. Many of the
compensation rules and reimbursements were included in the
programme which significantly reduced the number of manual
corrections.
In addition, the performance of staff can be followed up better with
the introduction of a detailed computerised reporting module. The
modification of the system resulted in significant time gains for the
department.
The future
Further investments must be made in the development of personnel
on the basis of an integrated system in which the job descriptions
and competence profiles are the starting points. In addition,
computerisation will continue, for example with the introduction of
e-HRM and the use of additional modules for recruitment, training
and evaluations.
One important project that will be given concrete form in 2008 is the
new personnel planning module.
Increasing the retention of staff remains a concern. An objective salary
policy, the introduction of social measures, improving the working
environment, and the development of career prospects are elements
which play an important role in this respect.
67

Organisation chart
P. Dujardin
CEO - Artistic Director
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GENERAL ADMINISTRATION HUMAN RESOURCES FUNDING
Administration
& Office Supplies
Archives
Legal Affairs
Mail
Subventions
Payroll Administration
Internal Communication
Legal-Social Affairs
HR Development
Corporate Development
Membership & Planned Giving
COMMUNICATION,
MARKETING & SALES
MUSIC ARTISTIC COORDINATION EXHIBITIONS FINANCE
TECHNICS, PRODUCTION,
INVESTMENTS/SAFETY/SECURITY
Box Office
Studios
Accountancy
Investments, Safety & Security
Audience Development
Press
Publications
IT
Cinema
Dance & Theatre
Literature
Architecture
Financial Control &
Internal Audits
Production
Front of House
Planning
Technics
Horeca & Shop
Cleaning
Maintenance & Repairs
Stock
Exhibitions & Performing Arts
68

V. Behind the scenes
69

The
Technical
department
The number of activities in the technical
department continued to increase in 2007.
There were three reasons for this:
1) the artistic programme of BOZAR EXPO, usually three or four
exhibitions in different venues at the same time;
2) the diversity of performances and activities;
3) the large number of building activities in the Centre for Fine Arts,
with a number of worksites which must be managed at the same
time.
The stage technics service was responsible for setting up and dismantling
our own productions in the various halls. This ranged from setting up
stages and sound and lighting installations to the loading and unloading
of materials. In a number of cases specialist outside contractors were
called in. The growing number of events again required careful planning
in 2007 in order to guarantee quality and achieve a balance between the
human input and the timing of the programming. The group of theatre
technicians supervised more than 500 events and productions. These
involved theatre, dance, literature, film, but above all music.
In addition to cleaning the various rooms in the Horta building and the
complex of offices with conference rooms in the Ravenstein gallery, the
staff services department was also responsible for the supply and removal
of materials. The service was charged with ensuring that visitors could
always attend activities in comfortable circumstances while the building
work was going on.
The service for the maintenance of the building and installations
comprises several employees: a carpenter, plumber, mechanic, painters
and electricians. They carried out minor repairs, put up showcases for
exhibitions and were charged with the everyday maintenance of the
technical installations. The team of painters brightened up the building,
while the electricians were responsible for the maintenance of the
electrical installations and telephones.
Since 2005 the management of the technical installations, such as
heating, air conditioning, lifting equipment and high voltage cabin is
contracted out to an outside specialist firm. The personnel who are
responsible can call this company on a hotline which is open seven days
a week, 365 days a year.
The exhibition technics team was responsible for setting up
and dismantling exhibitions. It was assisted by specialist outside
contractors.
The ICT Team
The ICT projects of 2007 were important in terms of strategic
development. As a result of these achievements a stable basis was
created which will evolve with regard to the technological development
in the Centre for Fine Arts in the medium and long term.
The achievements can be summarised as follows:
• there was an important hardware and software-related development
in the heart of the computer network, so that the information
technology structure could evolve and open up to new computer and
communication technologies;
• a central management system was introduced, which simplifies the
everyday work of the ICT team and provides better support for the
users of the computer systems;
• the security of the computer network was adapted to increase the
openness of the network. In addition, the first upgrade of the internet
connections provides increased working comfort for all employees.
The investments made in 2007 will be consolidated in 2008, and the
projects which were initiated a long time ago will be carried out in a
concrete and visible way.
70

V. Behind the scenes
Rediscovering
Horta
Step by step Victor Horta’s masterwork is being thoroughly restored.
As a result, the building is regaining its architectural place of honour.
2003 saw the start of a Master Plan, with the support and financing of
the Bernheim Foundation. The document contains a long-term strategy
for the systematic renovation of the Centre for Fine Arts. The various
interventions are spread over time to prevent the artistic activities from
being hampered by the works.
and multidisciplinary art shop. The broad range of items for sale
includes books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, posters, postcards and various
gift ideas. The selection of these items will be inspired partly by the
BOZAR programme and that of the Royal Belgian Film Archive. The
view along the street side was maintained and a direct passage was
created to the vestibule of the Centre for Fine Arts.
One of the most expensive and most far-reaching stages — costing
approximately 11 million euros — involved the renovation of the roofs of
the northern exhibition area. This stage was completed at the beginning
of 2007. It should enable the efficient use of the exhibition rooms. In
addition, the air conditioning and lighting systems were tackled. The
rooms now comply with the strictest norms as regards the safety and
conservation of the art works (the so-called ICOM norms). The internal
ceilings, with a total surface area of more than 1000m 2 , were carefully
restored. On top there was a completely new aluminium roof with light
regulation. Just as Horta wanted, the daylight floods into the exhibition
rooms, but the intensity of the light can be modified by fitting filters
and slats.
The Horta specialist Barbara Van der Wee and her team carried out the
preparatory studies. They were assisted by the Ney & Partners office
for the stability, Ingenium for the special techniques and Daidalos for
the engineering. The ambitious works were carried out in cooperation
with the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen. The architect Luc
Dubrulle was responsible for the technical and budgetary coordination.
The former shops next to the main entrance in the rue Ravensteinstraat
were integrated in the Centre for Fine Arts during the course of
2007. The partition walls disappeared to make room for a single large
BOZARSHOP with a shopping area of 360 m 2 . It is an international
The most important works are listed below:
1996: the Horta Hall was restored to its original condition.
1999: the Henry Le Boeuf Hall was restored to its former splendour.
2002–2003: renovation of the exhibition rooms. Offices and storage
spaces disappeared which meant that the original halls and passages
designed by Victor Horta could be made available again for artistic
activities. Behind the partitions, the rooms were still surprisingly
intact.
2003: the passage between the high and the low part of the Centre for
Fine Arts was simplified with a hall through Foyers 2 and 3.
2005: the use of the three new underground Terarken Rooms and the
construction of a new Terarken entrance.
2006: the Royal Belgian Film Archive was thoroughly renewed with
two new cinema halls which were excavated below the original ‘halls
for decorative arts’. The Film Archive was charged with furnishing the
rooms; the Centre for Fine Arts did the building work. The work is
expected to be completed during the last quarter of 2008.
2007: renovation of the roofs of the northern exhibition circuit.
Arrangement of the BOZARSHOP.
71

Planning
and seat
occupancy
In 2007 a total of 5,480 public activities were held in the Centre for
Fine Arts. This is 21% more than in 2006. If the activities without
the public are also included (rehearsals, putting up and taking down
exhibitions, recordings, tuning sessions, auditions and meetings) there
were a total of 9,182 activities in Bozar, as shown in the planning
software.
Public activities include all the activities attended by the public
in which the reception personnel of the Centre for Fine Arts are
responsible for the organization. These include the opening of an
exhibition or a nocturne with a private guided tour, an artistic activity
(concert, theatre, dance, literature, film, etc.), a reception, lecture,
meeting, debate or introduction to a concert, a Doors Open Day, a
guided visit of the building or a preview.
Seat occupancy per room
Henry Le Boeuf Hall: the seat occupancy increased as a result of a busy
end of the year. The number of visitors was far above that of previous
years.
Chamber Music Room: a slight increase, also due to the large amount
of activities in the autumn of 2007.
Studio: the most important user of this room was the Rideau de
Bruxelles, which performed its entire theatre programme there. The
rehearsals were extra days of occupancy. This situation does not really
allow for an increase in the seat occupancy.
Seat occupancy per room (2005 to 2007)
600
100
90
500
400
223
220
241
Rehearsals
Public activities
80
70
60
300
50
200
100
258
244
319
66
191
55
188
62
221
94
206
67
206
86
215
40
30
20
10
0
2005 2006 2007 2005 2006 2007 2005 2006 2007
0
Henry Le Boeuf Hall Chamber Music Room
Studio
J
72

V. Behind the scenes
Performances and occupancy per month
During the first quarter of the year there was a significant fall in the
number of activities. This was because the rooms (wholly or partly)
closed for acoustic reasons during the infrastructural works and because
the Small Theatre closed and was dismantled.
The periods when few activities are planned particularly coincide with
the school holidays and activities restart in September and January.
During the summer months virtually only workshops for children and
theatre rehearsals are organised. In August a general meeting of Fortis
took place in the Henry Le Boeuf Hall as well as a significant number of
rehearsals for the Gurrelieder, the opening production of the season at
the Monnaie/Munt.
Seat occupancy per room (2005 to 2007)
Occupancy per month (2005 to 2007)
Performances per month (2005 to 2007)
300
250
200
600
500
400
223
220
241
Studio
Chamber Music Room
Henry Le Bœuf
Rehearsals
Public activities
100
90
80
70
60
Studio
Chamber Music Room
Henry Le Bœuf
150
300
50
100
50
200
100
258
244
319
66
191
55
188
62
221
94
206
67
206
86
215
40
30
20
10
0
0
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
2005 2006 2007 2005 2006 2007 2005 2006 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
Henry Le Boeuf Hall Chamber Music Room
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
Studio
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
January February March April May June July August September October November December
0
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
January February March April May June July August September October November December
73

VI Management
and policy
75

Legal
organization
of the Centre
for Fine Arts
Legal status
The Centre for Fine Arts, which was founded on 4 April 1992 as a
non-profit organization and was converted in 1984 into a public utility
institution, has since 1 January 2002 been a limited public law company
with a social purpose .
2007 is therefore the sixth financial year of the new Centre for Fine
Arts.
With the change of status the company goal of the Centre for Fine Arts
has broadened considerably, making it a leading cultural player in the
fields of music and exhibitions, but also in the fields of dance, theatre,
literature, film and architecture.
During this sixth financial year the company has continued to carry
out the two main tasks assigned to it under its management contract
(see infra): managing the more than 30,000 m² building – a unique
construction by Victor Horta – and developing a multidisciplinary
cultural policy, that gives Brussels and Europe an unmistakable
international influence.
With the Belgian National Orchestra and the Théâtre royal de la
Monnaie/Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, the Centre for Fine Arts is
one of the three federal cultural institutions .
The company capital
At the time of the foundation of the limited liability company the
company capital was set at EUR 17,500,000 plus and issue premium
of EUR 109,106.34. This capital was represented by 17,500 non-
Act of 7 May 1999 establishing the Centre for Fine Arts in the form of a public
law limited liability company with social purpose and implementation decrees of
19 December 2001.
Article 150 of the programme law of 8 April 2003 and Article 1, 1° of the Royal
Decree of 21 July 2003.
par shares held by the Belgian Federal State. This capital represented
mainly the net value of the usufruct of the building and did not provide
the company with any liquidity.
Given the losses of EUR 1.8 million and 3 million incurred in 2002
and 2003 respectively, the company struggled with a shortage of cash,
whereupon the tutelary authorities decided to increase the capital. At
an extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders on 11 April 2003,
the Federal Participation and Investment Company subscribed a
capital increase of EUR 5 million, in exchange for 6,481 registered nonpar
shares.
The capital now amounts to EUR 22.5 million, represented by 23,981
shares.
The shareholder structure
As indicated above, the Centre for Fine Arts has two shareholders:
— the Federal State owns 17,500 shares (73%). The Federal State is
represented by the Minister with tutelary authority over the three federal
cultural institutions; from 2003 and up to December 2007 this was the
Prime Minister, empowered by the Royal Decree of 21 July 2003. Since
21 December 2007 it has been the Interior Minister, empowered by the
Royal Decree of 27 December 2007 .
— the Federal Participation and Investment Company owns 6,481
shares (27%).
New name of the former Federal Participation company, dissolved (merger by
takeover) by the Federal Investment Company (law of 26 August 2006, Belgian
Official Gazette, 30 August 2006, which entered into effect on 30 August
2006).
Article 4 of the Royal Decree of 27 December 2007 on particular ministerial
competences, Belgian Official Gazette, 31 December 2007.
76

VI. Management and policy
The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Centre for Fine Arts comprises an equal
number of Dutch and French-speaking members. The directors, the
chairman and the vice-chairman of the Board of Directors are appointed
by the King, by Royal Decree discussed in the Council of Ministers.
They are not remunerated for this office.
The first Board of Directors of the company was appointed by Royal
Decree of 19 December 2001: half the members for six years, the
other half for three years. Since then two directors have resigned, to be
replaced by Royal Decree of 11 July 2003.
By Royal Decree of 27 December 2004 the King extended by six years
the terms of office of the six directors whose original terms ended on
31 December 2004. From that time all directors have a mandate for six
years: half of them expired on 31 December 2007 and the other half on
31 December 2010.
The Board of Directors consists of the following 12 voting members:
Chairman: Mr. Étienne Davignon
Vice-chairman: Mr. Michel Praet
Directors: Mr. Eric Antonis
Mr. Jean Courtin
Mr. Jean-Pierre de Bandt
Mr. Jean-Pierre de Launoit
Mr. Marc Didden
Mr. Henry Ingberg (died 14.10.2007)
Ms. Anne Monseu
Ms. Marleen Van Waeyenberge
Ms. Isabelle Verhaegen.
Ms. Geertrui Windels
In addition, two non-voting directors have been appointed: Mr. Marc-
Yves Blanpain and Ms. Marie-Paule Quix.
The following also attend the meetings of the Board of Directors: the
Director-General, the Company Secretary and the three government
commissioners (see infra). The Legal Department provides the
secretariat to the Board.
In 2007 the Board of Directors met six times. The board discussed
the company’s financial situation (approval of the 2006 annual
accounts, budget for 2007, quarterly and half-yearly statements), the
cultural programming as proposed by the Director-General, the major
investments (restoration and renovation work), the legal and financial
aspects of the Shop and Restaurant projects. The BOZARSHOP
opened its doors to the public on 6 December 2007.
The Board charged the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and two Directors,
Mr. Courtin and Mr. de Bandt, with any preparations required for board
meetings.
An audit committee consisting of Ms. Geertrui Windels and Messrs.
Blanpain, Courtin and Praet has the task of controlling all financial
documents presented by the management.
The Director-General and the Executive
Committee
Mr. Paul Dujardin was appointed Director-General of the Centre for
Fine Arts on 19 December 2001 for a period of six years, from 1 January
2002 to 31 December 2007, renewable once. His mandate was renewed
by Royal Decree on 6 April 2007 for a second term running from 1
January 2008 to 31 December 2013. He is charged with the day-today
management of the company, assisted by an Executive Committee,
which he chairs.
The Executive Committee consists of four members, including the
Director-General. The three other members were appointed by the
Board of Directors at the beginning of 2002 for a six-year term; one of
77

the members was replaced at the end of 2006.
The Company Secretary acts as secretary to the Executive Committee.
In 2007 the Executive Committee met nine times. The committee can
invite advisers or heads of department to the meetings. The committee
discusses cultural and artistic projects and questions connected with the
day-to-day management.
Finally, there is a ‘Management Team Meeting’, consisting of the heads
of the different departments in the Centre for Fine Arts, in order to
coordinate these activities.
The government commissioners
The Centre for Fine Arts is subject to the control of the following two
ministers:
- the federal minister responsible for federal cultural institutions;
between July 2003 and December 2007 this was the Prime Minister;
since 1 January 2008 the Interior Minister has been responsible.
- the Budget Minister.
The supervision is undertaken by three government commissioners, all
appointed by the King.
Two government commissioners, one French-speaking and one Dutchspeaking,
are proposed by the Prime Minister, who has been given
tutelary authority over the federal cultural institutions : They are Mr.
Marc Boeykens and Mr. Renaud Bellen, appointed by Royal Decree of
31 March 2004, following the entry into effect of the programme law
of 8 April 2003, which strengthens the control of the federal cultural
institutions.
The third government commissioner is proposed by the Budget
Article 151 of the Programme Law of 8 April 2003, which entered into effect
on 19 April 2004 by application of the Royal Decree of 31 March 2004.
Minister: This is Ms. Rika Denduyver, who was appointed by Royal
Decree of 4 April 2003 .
The government commissioners are invited to all meetings of the Board
of Directors of the Centre for Fine Arts and they have an advisory vote .
They are appointed for the term of the government and their term of
office is renewable .
The college of auditors
The control of the financial situation, the annual financial accounts and
the regular nature of the transactions that are required to be reported in
the annual financial accounts is entrusted to a college of four auditors.
Two auditors are appointed by the General Meeting from among
members, either natural or legal persons, of the Belgian Institute of
Company Auditors. At the statutory General Meeting of 25 April 2006,
the following two auditors were appointed for a term of four years:
• T.C.L.M.-Toelen, Cats, Morlie & Co CVBA/SCRL, legally represented
by Mr. Jean-François Cats;
• KPMG BCV, legally represented by Mr. William Van Aerde.
Two auditors were appointed at the General Meeting of the Court
of Audit for a three-year term from 1 March 2006. By letter of 20
March 2007, Mr. W. Dumazy, Senior President of the Court of Audit,
informed the Centre for Fine Arts that the following persons had been
Article 14, §1 of the law of 7 May 1999 establishing the Centre for Fine Arts
in the form of a public law limited liability company with social purpose (…), as
amended by Article 156, 1° of the programme law of 8 April 2003.
Article 14, §3 of the law of 7 May 1999 establishing the Centre for Fine Arts
in the form of a public law limited liability company with social purpose (…), as
amended by Article 156, 2° of the programme law of 8 April 2003.
Article 5 of the Royal Decree of 31 March 2004 which governs the status of
the two government commissioners at the federal cultural institutions.
78

VI. Management and policy
appointed as members of the College of Auditors:
— Mr. Jan Debucquoy, adviser;
— Mr. Franz Wascotte, adviser (since 22 November 2007).
The auditors are appointed for renewable four-year terms.
democratisation and to fulfil a model function at the cultural, artistic,
professional and technical levels. However, the contract provides that
these obligations remain directly linked to the financial resources
available to the Centre, and in particular to the funding appropriations
that it receives for fulfilling its missions.
Photo : Lydie Nesvadba
The management contract
The management contract of the Centre for Fine Arts with the Belgian
State was concluded on 18 November 2002 and ratified by Royal Decree
of 2 December 2002. It entered into force on 21 December 2002, the
date of its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette, and is valid for a
period of five years, and legally extended until the entry into effect of a
new management contract.
This management contract governs, amongst other things, the following
matters required by law:
— the modalities of the execution of the public service task of the
company, in particular with regard to a multidisciplinary and
integrated cultural programming that contributes to the European
and international image of federal Belgium, the Communities and
the Brussels Capital Region;
— the arrangements with regard to the building: on the one hand, its
management and maintenance, financed by the Centre for Fine Arts,
and on the other hand, the major repair and renovation financed by
the State;
— the cooperation arrangements with other institutions, and in
particular with the regular users of the Centre for Fine Arts;
— the arrangements with regard to the funding from the Federal State;
— the obligations with regard to internal and external control.
In this contract the Centre for Fine Arts undertakes to develop a
consistent cultural programme, to follow an active policy of cultural
The joint employer-employee committee
The joint employer-employee committee was set up by Royal Decree
of 19 December 2001. In addition to the Chairman, Mr. Étienne
Davignon, it is composed of twelve effective members: Six representing
the management and six representing personnel (with six substitutes).
In 2007 the joint committee met six times. At these meetings, it
discussed, amongst other things, the following points:
— draft working regulations, which were finally signed on 15 January
2007;
— the follow-up of the sub-committee for Prevention and Protection
at Work (CPBW);
— overtime;
— contribution to travelling expenses;
— public holidays in 2008.
79

Photo : Julien Lanoo
80

VII Figures
81

Financial
report
Balance sheet (in EUR thousands)
ASSETS 2007 2006
LIABILITIES 2007 2006
FIXED ASSETS 24.725 21.786
I. Tangible fixed assets 24.663 21.777
A. Land and buildings 17.518 17.518
B. Plant, machinery and equipment 395 520
C. Furniture and vehicles 680 556
D. Other tangible fixed assets 5.376 2.513
E. Assets under construction 693 670
and advance payments
II. Financial fixed assets 63 9
EQUITY 24.098 24.915
I. Capital 22.500 22.500
II. Share premium account 109 109
III. Revaluation surpluses 385 385
IV. Loss carried forward (4.995) (4.948)
V. Investment grants 6.100 6.869
PROVISIONS AND DEFERRED TAXES 888 2.234
VI. Provisions for liabilities and charges 888 2.234
CURRENT ASSETS 9.890 14.136
III. Amounts receivable within one year 6.009 11.040
IV. Short-term investments 997 1.418
V. Cash in hand and at bank 2.774 1.286
VI. Deffered charges and accrued income 110 392
CREDITORS 9.629 8.774
VII. Amounts payable within one
year at the latest 8.131 7.330
A. Trade debts 4.342 3.882
B. Advance payments received on orders 15 5
C. Taxes, remuneration and social security 2.940 2.734
D. Other amounts payable 833 709
VIII. Deferred accounts 1.498 1.444
TOTAL ASSETS 34.615 35.922
TOTAL LIABILITIES 34.615 35.922
82

VII. Figures
Income statement (in EUR thousands)
INCOME STATEMENT 2007 2006
This year it is once again possible to state that the accounts for the
2007 financial year are balanced. After all, the losses of the financial
year amounting to ¤ 47,855.93 represent only 0.19% of the operating
charges on the income statement (¤ 26,595,218.50).
OPERATING INCOME 25.569 23.343
I. Turnover 6.629 7.019
II. Other operating income 18.941 16.323
OPERATING CHARGES 26.595 23.895
III. Raw materials, consumables and goods for resale 13.155 11.800
IV. Services and other goods 3.378 2.393
V. Remuneration, social security costs and pensions 10.011 10.111
VI. Depreciation and write-downs 1.298 930
VII. Reductions in value on stocks, orders in progress and trade payables 87 (52)
VIII. Provisions for liabilities and charges (1.345) (1.292)
IX. Other operating charges 12 5
OPERATING LOSS (1.026) (553)
FINANCIAL INCOME 859 454
FINANCIAL CHARGES 4 26
LOSS ON ORDINARY ACTIVITIES BEFORE TAXES (170) (124)
EXTRAORDINARY INCOME 168 191
EXTRAORDINARY CHARGES 45 139
LOSS FOR THE YEAR BEFORE TAXES (48) (72)
INCOME TAXES 0 0
LOSS FOR THE YEAR (48) (72)
In the operating charges three items deserve particular attention:
• The consumables, raw materials and auxiliary materials (¤ 13 million),
which form the basis for the activities for the Centre for Fine Arts,
namely the costs of the total artistic production (¤ 8.6 million) and
for communication.
• The services and other goods (¤ 3.3 million), which contain the
costs for the administrative activities, such as the rental costs and
insurances.
• The remuneration, social security costs and pensions (¤ 10 million),
which comprise all the costs related to the personnel.
In the evaluation of the operating charges shown in the 2007 accounts,
account should also be taken of the activities undertaken at the expense
of the external partners of the Centre for Fine Arts. This applies both to
the cultural project and the investments in real estate.
In order to achieve its ambitious artistic programme, the Centre for
Fine Arts aims to achieve the greatest possible synergy and cooperation,
amongst other things, by means of co-productions with structural (or
occasional) partners, or by attracting projects which are granted external
financial support. These partners support the Centre for Fine Arts and
its overall cultural project. The financial contribution of the various coproducers
is essential, and improves the artistic quality of the presented
projects.
The production costs of the activities borne by the external partners of
the Centre for Fine Arts are not included in the accounts of the Centre
83

for Fine Arts, but these activities do lead to other costs for the Centre,
both as regards manpower and technical resources, or for infrastructure
that has been made available. All this is reflected in the high operating
charges of the Centre.
its own strength. This applies in particular for the entire technical
assistance, but also applies for the general services (for example the
communication via the internet site or the publications, but also for
security and insurance policies).
The investments in real estate were possible because of the help of the
various intervening parties, in particular Beliris, the SFPI/FPIM, the
Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen, the National Lottery and
also the Brussels Capital Region. Even though not all the financial help
is included in the accounts, the Centre for Fine Arts is responsible for
the majority of the management and for managing the work which can
be carried out because of this substantial support.
The cultural project
The main activity consists of the Centre for Fine Arts’ own cultural
events. The music and exhibitions are the most widely known, but the
Centre for Fine Arts also aims to be a multidisciplinary centre. Film,
theatre, dance, literature and architecture are all an integral part of the
cultural activities and are often brought together, for example during
Festivals. In the accounts of the Centre for Fine Arts for 2007, these
activities represent a total sum of ¤ 8.6 million.
In addition to its own activities, other artistic activities are organized in
the Centre for Fine Arts:
• the activities in co-production with some twenty privileged partners
including the ONB/NOB, Europalia, the Monnaie/Munt, the
Festival van Vlaanderen, and the Rideau de Bruxelles. The Centre
for Fine Arts is responsible for the design, follow-up and execution
of these activities, partly with its partners, but also exclusively on
• the artistic projects with third parties with external financing. By
way of example, we would like to mention the exhibition Views on
Europe, which was held on the occasion of the German presidency
of the European Union. Germany took part in the realization of the
exhibition in being responsible for the transport and insurance of
the works that were exhibited. Therefore a sum of ¤ 2,088,500 was
managed directly by the Bundeskulturstiftung. Obviously this sum
was not included in the accounts of the Centre for Fine Arts, but it
was essential for being able to put on this high quality exhibition. It is
self-evident that all the costs which the Centre for Fine Arts took on
were accurately and comprehensively included in the accounts.
These two sorts of activities together represent the significant sum of
¤ 13.9 million, to be added to the Centre for Fine Arts’ own artistic
production for a value of ¤ 8.6 million.
Together this comes to a total of ¤ 22.5 million of artistic productions,
organized in the Centre for Fine Arts.
There is also a third sort of activity:
• the productions of our many other partners which take place in the
rooms of the Centre for Fine Arts. For example, these include the
Queen Elizabeth of Belgium International Music Competition. In
this case the availability of the rooms is again not limited only to
renting out rooms: the teams of the Centre for Fine Arts (technology,
planning, etc.) and they alone are responsible for the reception,
incorporating the activity amongst the other activities, the technical
management and the successful process. Therefore these activities
84

VII. Figures
represent an important task for the Centre although the impact is not
reflected in the accounts. It is difficult to provide a correct estimate
of the financial value of these activities, but they should be taken into
account in the evaluation of the operating costs for the Centre for
Fine Arts in the consolidated accounts.
The management and investments in real estate
• This section comprises many different and complex activities. To
start with the 33,000m 2 of the Centre itself which are more than just a
number of rooms. It also involves the maintenance of the façade and the
splendid and spacious common areas which constitute its glory (hall,
stairway, etc.), but which must also be maintained. This is exclusively
carried out by the personnel of the Centre for Fine Arts although these
areas are available for everyone, co-producers and third parties. There
are also the administrative offices, a total of 4000m 2 , with a security
system, conference rooms, various facilities for the personnel and the
visitors, for the Centre for Fine Arts itself but also for our partners
who use the same rooms (ONB/NOB, Europalia, Rideau de Bruxelles,
etc.). These rooms are rented out, but the technical personnel of the
Centre for Fine Arts is responsible for the maintenance.
• The realization of the investments made in the last few years required
the establishment of a structure in the Centre for Fine Arts, even if
the financing does not go through the accounts of the Centre. For
example, for the renovation of the northern circuit of the exhibitions
only two of the eleven million euros needed for investment were
included in our accounts. The balance of nine million euros was
entrusted to the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen, which
paid the contractors directly. Obviously the Centre for Fine Arts calls
upon its partners to help with the management of these investments,
such as the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen or on external
cooperation (architect,..). However, the employees of the Centre for
Fine Arts ensure that the dossiers are followed up, both at the legal and
financial, and at the administrative and technical level. This applies
with regard to finding investment subsidies, determining our own
wishes at the design stage, mediation during the execution to keep the
budget under control up to the handover of the work and learning new
skills for the use of new technologies. All the departments are involved
in some way in the management of these investments.
Important investments have been made since the start of the
first mandate of Paul Dujardin as the director-general. In the
immediate future, new and equally important investments will
have to be made, not only to restore the building, but also for basic
considerations of safety (electricity). They will require the same
great effort with the only advantage that there is already some
experience and that a suitable structure is available. Nevertheless
these important investments require increasingly complicated legal
and financial constructions, amongst other things, with appeals to
the private sector. To this it should be added that the evolution
of the technology which is necessary to conform to the European
standards which apply for the Centre for Fine Arts, require higher
and higher qualifications on the part of the personnel.
In order to give some idea of the importance, the government and the
private sector have invested a total of ¤ 44,546,000 in the site of the
Centre for Fine Arts since 2000 which implied the use of complex
financial constructions involving the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der
Gebouwen, Beliris, the SFPI/FPIM, the National Lottery, the Brussels
Capital Region and the Bernheim Foundation.
As indicated earlier, the sum of the investments which was directly
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managed by third parties such as the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der
Gebouwen, without the direct financial contribution of the Centre for
Fine Arts, can be estimated at ¤ 3 million for the year 2007 (completion
of the northern circuit, BOZARSHOP, Film Archive, etc).
Conclusion
It is clear that in addition to organizing cultural activities and managing
the building, the traditional tasks of the Centre entail many complex
aspects.
The cultural activities of the Centre include its own productions, coproductions,
productions of third parties in the rooms of the Centre for
Fine Arts and artistic projects realized with third parties granted with
external financing. The organization which exists in the Centre for Fine
Arts must support all these activities, of which a part is not reflected in
the accounts and the budget of the company.
The same applies for the management and investments in real
estate. Some subsidies for investments are provided by third parties
(particularly the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen in 2007),
while as indicated above, the Centre for Fine Arts makes an essential
contribution to the achievement of these investments. These efforts
also benefit everyone, the Centre for Fine Arts, the co-producers, the
partners, and on the whole to all the visitors to these activities.
It can also be said that the consolidated activities of the Centre for
Fine Arts (including the contribution of external partners) in 2007
amounted to a total of ¤ 43.5 million. This sum corresponds to the
total of the operating charges of ¤ 26.6 million (as reflected in the 2007
accounts of the Centre for Fine Arts), together with the value of the
cultural activities which are not produced by the Centre for Fine Arts,
namely ¤ 13.9 million, and the investments in real estate amounting to
¤ 3 million.
Bearing this figure of ¤ 43.5 million in mind, the sum of ¤ 10 million
that was spent on the personnel costs of the Centre for Fine Arts are
justified.
Notes on the assets
- The tangible fixed assets have increased as a result of the renovation
work on the northern roofs, financed by the Beliris cooperation
agreement (Endorsement 9).
- The increase in the financial fixed assets is mainly due to the
participation in the capital of the company created for the
BOZARSHOP and also by the guarantee for the subsidy of the
Flemish Community for the China exhibitions.
- The amounts receivable within at most one year are decreasing. This can
be explained by two effects. In the first place, the commercial amounts
receivable reveal an increase as a result of more co-productions.
Secondly, the other amounts receivable have fallen significantly because
the subsidies were reduced. In 2006, the Centre for Fine Arts was still
expecting subsidies: Beliris (¤ 4.9 million), the extraordinary subsidy
at the end of the year of ¤ 800,000 and the subsidy from Foreign
Affairs of ¤ 450,000. On the other hand, in 2007 a small amount of
Beliris still remained, the balance of 20% of the National Lottery and
a sum of ¤ 150,000 from the Flemish Community.
- The short-term financial investments were not as great.
- The deferred charges of the assets include the costs carried forward of
¤ 102,000 and the income obtained of ¤ 8000.
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VII. Figures
Notes on the liabilities
The loss carried forward applies only to the year 2002 when the
company which took over the activities of several associations was
established. At that time no financial plan had been drawn up and
the Centre for Fine Arts was permanently underfinanced which was
the reason for the increase in capital in 2003. Since then, the new
company, Palais des Beaux-Arts S.A./ Paleis voor Schone Kunsten
N.V. has never suffered an operating loss.
- The provisions for liabilities and charges of ¤ 888,000 are divided as
follows:
• Major repairs and maintenance: only the provision of ¤ 275,000 for
the work on the organ remains. In 2006, the Centre already made use
of the provision of ¤ 1.2 million in the context of the charges for the
works on the northern roofs;
• Other liabilities and charges: this item comprises a provision for
the restructural work (¤ 224,000) and the ongoing legal disputes
(¤ 407,000). The latter is mainly the provision for the VAT charges
on the media exchanges.
- The trade debts are increasing as a result of more co-productions.
- The debts with regard to taxes, salaries and social security charges
comprise ¤ 816,000 for overtime.
- The other amounts payable within one year at the latest contain the
debts of the box office, vis-à-vis third parties
- The deferred accounts of the liabilities contain ¤ 119,000 of
attributable costs and ¤ 1,379,000 of income carried forward.
Notes on the income statement
- The turnover represents the operational product of the Centre for
Fine Arts and has fallen by 5% or ¤ 390,000. The Funding and the
box office remained the same with the exception of BOZAR EXPO.
- The other operating income is increasing. This increase can be
explained by the additional ¤ 1 million from the federal grant,
the subsidy from the Portuguese government for the exhibition
Encompassing the Globe and the subsidies for the China exhibitions.
- The purchases have increased by ¤ 1,355,000, namely 11%, and
are related to the fees paid to the organizers of the Encompassing the
Globe exhibition (¤ 1 million) and to the development of the artistic
activities, particularly music. The expenditure on the building and the
administrative remain stable.
- The services and other goods comprise the sum of ¤ 1 million which
was paid to the Régie des Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen, in the
context of the renovation work as agreed between the Régie des
Bâtiments/Regie der Gebouwen, the Centre for Fine Arts and the
National Lottery.
- Taking into account the use of ¤ 128,000 of the provision for
restructuring work, the salaries have remained stable at ¤ 9.8 million.
- The increase in the depreciations is partly compensated by other
financial products which take up the Beliris capital subsidy.
- The reductions in the value of trade payables are due to the dossier
related to a cultural partner.
- The provisions for liabilities and charges mainly comprise the use of the
provision for the works on the roof (- ¤ 1.1 million), the restructuring
costs (- ¤ 128,000) and the IT licenses.
- The financial income has increased as a result of the investments and
the capital subsidy of Beliris.
- The other extraordinary income includes the fees in 2006 which were
booked as fixed assets or suppliers from before 2003 which were never
rebooked.
- The other extraordinary charges represent the depreciations on the
fees of 2006 which were booked across and the amounts due which
cannot be recovered.
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Photo : Lydie Nesvadba
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