Paleis voor Schone Kunsten, Brussel

The Centre for Fine Arts aims to be a European cultural centre, anchored in the 21st century, with a novel and innovative view of society, a laboratory of ideas attuned to society’s current and future challenges. In the coming decade, Bozar aims to embody change, and contribute to seven major and evolving societal challenges. Sitting atop Coudenberg Hill, monumental and yet discreet, the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts is Belgium’s major cultural venue. In 1913, Queen Elisabeth and King Albert I expressed their desire to build “a temple devoted to Music and the Arts”. Designed by renowned Belgian architect Victor Horta (1861-1947), construction began after the First World War. Upon returning from his stay in the United States, Horta abandoned his flamboyant, industrial Art Nouveau style for the more monumental and geometric language of Art Deco. Inaugurated in 1928, the Centre for Fine Arts is a testimony to this aesthetic revolution. For nearly a century, the centre has hosted the art world’s crème de la crème, and it is where most of Bozar’s cultural and artistic activities are held.