annual report 2004

BOZAR

ANNUAL

REPORT

2004

Layout: Base Design - Realisation: Comfi & Publishing - www.comfi.be - Photos: phototlibrary BOZAR

CENTRE FOR FINE ARTS, BRUSSELS RAVENSTEINSTREET 23 - 1000 BRUSSEL S WWW.BOZAR.BE TEL. +32(0)2 507 84 44 30

BO ZAR ANNUAL REPORT 2004 PALEIS VOOR SCHONE KUNSTEN, BRUSSEL PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS, BRUXELLES CENTRE FOR FINE ARTS, BRUSSELS

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I. Introduction

II. The programme

III. Partners

IV. Services

V. Behind the scenes

VI. Corporate governance

VII. Finances

I. Introduction

3

II. The programme

8

III. Partners

28

IV. Services

34

V. Behind the scenes

42

Key figures EXPO Visitor figures : Autumn 2004 Appel Turkey Total visitors

VII. Finances

56

Symbolism

67 018

13 071

200 750 50

120 550 70

300 50

360 82 8 537

636 50 11 684

788

3 545

2 289

Groups in nos. of groups in nos. of individuals Guided tours

632 9 475 648 (7%)

1 205 18 070 1 013 (6%)

77 1 153

185 2 778

274 4 117

Schools in nos. of groups in nos. of individuals

357 5 355

323 4 839

61 908

337 5 059

120 1 802

Advance sales (before 1st opening day) groups (nos. of individuals) schools (nos. of individuals) all categories (nos. of individuals)

Sales of combined tickets

50

Spring 2004 Rimbaud

55 223

Protocol preview Public preview Press preview

VI. Corporate Governance

Arp

Catalogues Visitor guides Audioguides

17 756

600 100

8 945 (7%)* 2 392 (4%)*

2 290 (3%)*

13 328

3 636 (12%)* 818 (7%)*

766 (6%)* 5 251 (29%)*

20 335 (31%)*

* calculated on total Ticket Act sales average

VII. Finances

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I. Introduction

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Appel and Turkey draw the crowds

The Centre for Fine Arts aims to be an open house for both young and old, whatever their origins and their social or professional status. A wide and varied international selection of quality music, visual arts, photography, dance, theatre, film, architecture, and literature offers everyone an opportunity for an experience of art and for personal development.

In 2004 the Centre for Fine Arts again presented a representative sample of today’s cultural offering.

Organisationally and in terms of infrastructure too, 2004 was a year of many changes at the Centre for Fine Arts, starting with the opening of the Terarken rooms. A full rundown of the artistic, operational, and financial policies of the Centre for Fine Arts is given in this report.

I. Introduction

A message g from the Chairman Etienne Davignon, Chairman of the Board of Directors

The Centre for Fine Arts is today the largest multidisciplinary We are pleased to present our 2004 activities report. As well as a financial report, it cultural centre in Brussels, open to all artistic disciplines: music, describes the outstanding events of the year and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the the visual arts, photography, dance, theatre, film, architecture, organisation of the Centre for Fine Arts. literature, etc. This is a cause for pride, but also imposes a heavy responsibility. To meet customers’ high expectations, the Board of Directors keeps a close eye on the quality of the cultural events that we either manage ourselves, co-produce, or host. The Board also keeps a careful watch on our grant – in particular by introducing a pricing structure that makes events accessible to as broad an audience as possible and by keeping the budget in balance – as oc- Four commitments curred in 2004.

1) A meeting place for all the Arts by taking advantage of Victor Horta’s original design, The geographic location of the Centre for Fine Arts gives it at once and by inviting major artists from every discipline and every tendency. a Brussels, a Belgian, and a European dimension. Our open-mindedness to different art forms, both contemporary and historical, is matched by an equal 2) Attracting the broadcast possible audience by diversifying the programming, and by open-mindedness towards our partners. Hence the many and varied co-productions launching an educational project focusing on the creation and renovation of new venues and collaborations with the French-speaking Community via the Brussels Théâtre du for exchanges, relaxation and pleasure.

Rideau, which has its permanent base in the Centre for Fine Arts; with the Flemish Community via the KlaraFestival; and with the European Commission through its 3) Heralding the cultural Europe of tomorrow by combining international prestige with support for the European Concert Hall Organisation, which develops interdisciplinary the vitality of new Belgian artistic trends and openness to all cultures. projects for concert halls etc.

4) A quality partnership offered to all cultural players and companies interested in havAlready part of the network of major European cultural centres, the Centre for Fine ing a dynamic and influential “Maison des Arts” in the heart of the exceptional Mont Arts will in future be looking to give a greater European emphasis to its programming des Arts cultural area. through Europalia and other events.

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The Centre for Fine Arts: a house with many rooms in which everyone can feel at home Paul Dujardin, Director-general

Since my appointment in early 2002 my colleagues and I have been working towards a common goal, that of developing the Centre for Fine Arts into a modern and well-functioning arts centre. A centre with an international reputation, in which every artistic discipline has its place and which is open to every kind of audience.

Now that we have proved that we have a sensible, consistent economic policy, the subsidy has increased on a phased basis to EUR 7.7 million. Globally speaking, the grant from the federal government covers around 80% of our overhead costs. The rest we cover from our own income, including hiring out our infrastructure to The governance and policy of the Centre for Fine Arts are situated within specific po- outside parties. litical, economic, and artistic frameworks. In the first instance we have focused primar- Economically, we work today according to a highly complex system, ily on the economic framework, and on its three constitutive parts: operational policy, but with the greatest amount of support coming from the public: artistic policy, and investment in the building. Once we have succeeded in optimising 65% of our artistic costs are covered by our own income. these, we will be very much on the right track.

The artistic budget amounts, all told, to around EUR 20 million.

The Centre for Fine Arts operates as a Belgian federal institution, but political respon- Given the great degree of diversity of our partners, it was imporsibility for culture in our country lies with the Communities. These have, therefore, tant to develop a coherent artistic policy. been involved in the project from the beginning. The Centre for Fine Arts is a house with many rooms in which everyone can feel at home. We have, up to a point, left the The Centre’s artistic policy goes back to its foundation. Because an Centre’s institutional situation to one side and have developed an economic model that important, if not the most important, factor in all this is the buildallows us to exist once again without being identified with yesterday’s Belgium. The ing itself. Nowhere in Europe before 1928 was there a building question has been: how, from a purely economic standpoint, to get this house up and that brought together all artistic disciplines under one roof. Each running again. We have tried. And we have succeeded. It has taken two or three years branch of the arts was given its own room in this building. This was the visionary idea to get it right. The year 2004 closed without a loss, unlike the two previous years. of the architect Horta; indeed, Renzo Piano drew inspiration from the Centre for Fine Arts when designing the Centre Pompidou.

One primary concern has been the question of operating costs. It costs between 10 and 12 million euro a year to keep the Centre for Fine Arts up and running, that is, just to In 2004 there were 9,250 activities, drawing around 1 million visitors, including both keep the building open, paying the staff and the administrative costs, not to mention paying visitors for the exhibitions and performances and people simply visiting the the expenses of the artistic side of things. In 2002 we started out with a subsidy of EUR building. By way of comparison, the Centre Pompidou attracts 5 million visitors.

4.2 million. The years 2002 and 2003 were very difficult years. A one-off investment of EUR 5 million by the Federal Participation Company enabled us to survive.

Studies teach us that the public identifies with a location. Some 50% of culture is an experience, a place that plays a role in people’s lives, a place you come to, where you

I. Introduction

experience something. Just as people like to return again and again to the same cafe and the same shop, they also like to visit the same temple of culture. The centre for fine arts has still some way to go in terms of the quality of its content. But we are working hard at being able to offer ÂŤtotal experiencesÂť.

Ahead of us are major investments and years of work. With its eight levels and 30,000 square metres the centre for fine arts is also a colossal building. When I arrived it was in decay. The first thing we did was to dismantle the building, understand how it fits together, and undertake a number of modifications. Subsequent renovations will be based on the Masterplan that we put together this year. The greatest challenge here is to remain operational. Thoroughgoing renovation whilst remaining accessible is the option we have taken.

We can look back with satisfaction on 2004. On arriving here I was confronted with the difficult task of getting all the activities in the house to come together and to develop a coherent policy for the Centre. Our increasing success in this obviously gives me great satisfaction. But even more pleasing is the way that our staff has backed this sea change. The entire team is giving the best of itself in this gigantic project, across all social, cultural, and community differences. The year 2004 was a great year. 2005 will be even better.

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II. The programme

The BOZAR programme 9

II. The programme

Mission

Symphony orchestras The Centre for Fine Arts is one of the best-known concert halls in Europe and indeed in The Belgian orchestras maintained a strong presence, as faithful partners in our programming. The constant efforts of these orchestras and their conductors – Mikko the world. Professionals recognise the consistently high quality of its concerts.

BOZAR MUSIC seeks to ensure programming continuity both for the concerts in the Franck for the Belgian National Orchestra (BNO), Louis Langrée for the Orchestre Centre and for those held in other locations. This programme is enthusiastically re- Philharmonique de Liège, Kazushi Ono for the Symphony Orchestra of the Monnaie/ Munt, Daniele Callegari and Philippe Herreweghe for deFilharmonie, have borne fruit ceived by a broad public year after year.

Obviously the programme includes classical music, but other kinds of music are be- and are much appreciated by audiences. ginning to receive the more active and future-oriented attention they Special mention needs to be made of the BNO concerts (just before their major tour merit. The initiatives taken in the course of the year prove that we of Japan) conducted by Leif Segerstam, one of the most famous contemporary Finncan attract a new public in this way and that we can build up their ish composers, with the pianist Abdel Rahman El Bacha as soloist. The same pianist loyalty and encourage them to take part in other events by program- was also the soloist in the complete series of Prokofiev piano concertos, which was perming more music in fields of specific interest to them (world music, formed by the Monnaie/Munt Orchestra in September. jazz, etc.). This requires constant effort, more intensive prospecting We regularly host the most prestigious foreign orchestras. Last year these included the of all possible target groups for these forms of music, and the develop- Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly (during his final tour), the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach with the soment of a communication programme.

Contemporary music remains a difficult area for the public, which loist Gil Shaham, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Ivan Fischer in two very highly does not always attend in very large numbers. A strong emphasis on acclaimed Wagner evenings, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted by the young Daniel Harding, etc. education would undoubtedly produce greater public interest.

Recitals As usual there were recitals by great soloists throughout the year: Cecilia Bartoli gave magnificent performances of songs by Haydn, Salieri, and Rossini; the Norwegian Activities In 2004 music-lovers once more had a broad choice of musical genres and repertoires, Leif Ove Andsnes showed his enormous talent in a series of four concerts with the from symphony orchestras to recitals, from Renaissance music to the most contempo- tenor Ian Bostridge; the audience in Brussels also applauded the pianists Christian rary creations.

Zacharias, Mikhail Pletnev, Zoltán Kocsis, and Richard Goode, while Murray A total of 26 subscription series and 10 non-subscription series were programmed dur- Perahia’s withdrawal gave us a chance to discover Grigory Sokolov, a great Russian ing the 2004 calendar year. Details can be found in the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 an- pianist who is not yet sufficiently known here. We also welcomed the baritone nual BOZAR MUSIC brochures.

Thomas Hampson, the violinist Maxim Vengerov, and the mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager.

Chamber music The Conservatory hosted the Leipzig String Quartet with Christian Zacharias, the Tokyo String Quartet, the legendary Borodin String Quartet and the young Artemis String Quartet, currently one of the best ensembles, in two fascinating concerts each of which combined a Beethoven quartet with a 20th-century quartet (by Schoenberg and Nono).

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Early music and baroque music Attractive programmes of early music and baroque music were performed in the more intimate atmosphere of the Minimes church by, among others, the Ricercar Consort and the Elyma and Poème Harmonique ensembles (in co-production with the Sablon Baroque Spring festival). Our usual partners also performed in the early-music series: Paul Van Nevel and the Huelgas Ensemble, Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna, Philippe Pierlot and the Ricercar Consort, Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Bande, etc.

Vocal music The greatest vocal masterworks, especially baroque and classical music, attracted many listeners to the Centre for Fine Arts.

Emmanuelle Haïm, a harpsichord player and orchestra leader, gave two concerts: a madrigal concert with her own Astrée ensemble and a beautiful opera by Marc Antoine Charpentier with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. This last concert formed part of the celebrations of Charpentier’s 300th anniversary.

Another great moment was the arrival on 9 November of Marie-Nicole Lemieux, the unforgettable 1st prize-winner of the Queen Elizabeth Competition for Song 2000, in the Vivaldi opera Orlando Furioso with the Matheus Ensemble.

Contemporary music In the field of contemporary music, Ars Musica continues to be an important partner, as do the Ictus and Musiques Nouvelles ensembles . One striking event was the arrival of the great Hungarian composer György Kurtag and his wife Marta, who came to Brussels for the first time for a musical and poetic evening devoted to his Kafka Fragments.

This evening took place at Flagey, in cooperation with Flagey.

Special events The first months of the season traditionally include a number of special events. Autumn 2004 was no exception. The first edition of the new-style Klara Festival of Flanders took place in September (a collection of concerts over a two-week period, in cooperation with Klara, the VRT’s classical music channel).

In this connection, we would particularly like to mention the final concert by the Budapest Festival Orchestra with the Collegium Vocale Ghent, conducted by Ivan Fischer.

Every concert by this beautiful orchestra is of exceptional musical quality. This one, with an attractive programme of Bartók and Stravinski, was no exception.

well, as shown by the programme of the Turkey Festival or the recital by Patti Smith on the occasion of the Arthur Rimbaud exhibition.

Another high point in the cooperation with the Festival was the series of concerts given on 16, 17, 18, and 19 September focusing on Southern India, with music, dance, and marionettes, among other events.

One innovation from 2003 which was repeated in 2004 was that the Centre for Fine Arts opened its doors to world music and jazz. From now on the Henry Le Boeuf Hall will also provide a stage for jazz concerts and world music. The programming is more II. prestigious and more focused on the general public than in the past. A recital by Sonny The programme A series of events marking the 75th anniversary of the Henry Le Boeuf Hall was launched Rollins took place, for example, in the great hall. The Turkey Festival, with its typically on 16 October. The first celebrated guest was the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orches- eclectic programme, also took place in the different halls of the Centre for Fine Arts tra conducted by Sir Colin Davis, with Berlioz’s rarely performed Romeo and Juliet. As and at other locations, with whirling dervishes, traditional musicians, and stars like the part of an international commemoration, the evening was dedicated to Daniel Pearl, an singer Sertab Erener and the pianist Fazil Say. American journalist murdered in Pakistan in 2002.

In this way, the Centre for Fine Arts offers audiences a window on the wider music The concerts of Valery Gergiev and Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the series of three con- world, in addition to ensuring a permanent range of classical music. This cultural policy certs by Pierre Boulez with the London Symphony Orchestra were other major events should also help other groups and generations to find their way to the Centre, as well as celebrating this anniversary. In this connection one the traditional public classical concert audiences. of the Boulez concerts, the Rite of Spring by Stravinski, deserves particular mention: it took place in a hall filled with 2,000 young people as part of the In 2004 music-lovers once more had a broad educational activities of BOZAR STUDIOS. Organisation The music department, now BOZAR MUSIC, organised more than 250 concerts in choice of musical genres and repertoires, Other events to mark this anniversary included 2004. In addition to the negotiations and preparations preceding the concerts (the profrom symphony orchestras to recitals, from Renaissance music to the most contemporary a performance by three of Belgium’s top pianists: gramme is arranged two seasons in advance), there is also a great deal of work of an Boyan Vodenitcharov, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, organisational nature: drawing up contracts, reserving halls and hotels, making travel creations. and Jan Michiels in the main concert hall on Sunday arrangements where necessary, providing transport and unloading instruments, rehearsals, welcoming artists, following up the payment of fees, sending out press releases, A total of 26 subscription series and 10 non- 17 October . etc. subscription series were programmed during the 2004 calendar year. Details can be found Kunstberg/Mont des Arts on Sunday in the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 annual The Sunday morning concerts of the “Kunstberg/ To ensure an innovative approach, two aspects merit greater attention: welcoming and Mont des Arts on Sunday” programme introduced maintaining personal contacts with artists and with the musical world, and meeting and BOZAR MUSIC brochures. the public to talented young performers from Bel- listening to new talent, both in Belgium and abroad. gium and abroad, in particular the Rising Stars in cooperation with ECHO (European Concert Hall Organisation).

World music and jazz In addition to classical music, jazz, world music, and the exceptionally fine Music & Poetry series also attracted large audiences with highly original programmes.

In line with its transversal and multidisciplinary character, the musical programme pays considerable attention to the exhibition schedule: music and the visual arts go together

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The BOZAR EXPO programme 12

Mission

— Around Symbolism, linked to the big Khnopff Exhibition at the Royal Museum of The Centre for Fine Arts’ Exhibitions Department has put together a multi-facetted Fine Arts of Belgium. This exhibition was extremely popular with lovers of historical exhibition programme with a distinctly topical slant. Historical, modern and contem- photography and the Symbolist movement. Its fascination for visitors lay in the fact porary themes all have a place. Nor are the latest trends neglected, with many plastic that it not only exhibited photographs and paintings, but also shed new light on how artists no longer confining themselves to a single medium but combining film, video one medium influenced the other.

— Rimbaud (1854-1891): A Season in Hell, in cooperation with the Royal Library of and digital.

Belgium, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of Arthur Rimbaud.

With optimal use made once again of the Victor Horta building, space has been freed This was not an easy subject for a visual presentation but was designed in an original up for working in situ, and artists have been given an opportunity to realize their ideas, and theatrical way by the Antwerp B architects. Combined with the design by BLITZ also over longer periods of time. The building, which serves as a source of inspiration, (Oscar Van den Boogaard, Steven Van Watermeulen and Sven Grooten), the set design evoked enthusiastic reactions from the public. has to be able to constantly adapt to the needs of today’s culture.

— The second part of Revolution/Restoration(1) continued during the spring with a very successful installation by the Indian trio Raqs Media Collective (Horta Hall). FreeSpace¸ a new series of small-scale exhibitions by talented young artists, was organised by the Activities artists’ collective NICC. Like Revolution/Restoration, these exhibitions were free to the The BOZAR EXPO programme was divided between the spring and autumn-winter. public, to give people more opportunity to be introduced to the work of young artists.

Preparations for the 175th/25th anniversary of Belgium and the closing of the Centre In April, BOZAR EXPO organised a stand at Art Brussels together with BOZARCOM, for Fine Arts for renovation works meant there was no summer programme. showing a projection by Raqs Media, a video by Manon de Boer, and a work by Gabriel Lester, as well as artists’ editions created for the 2003 exhibition of Young Spring 2004 Belgian Painting.

The year started well with three exhibitions at the same time, targeting a varied public.

Autumn-winter 2004 — Hans (Jean) Arp, a classical-modern artist from the Dadaist movement. This exhibi- The autumn and winter started with a major Karel Appel exhibition by Rudi Fuchs, on tion mainly attracted lovers of modern and contemporary art, as well as art students. the occasion of the Dutch Presidency of the European Union. This was a big success It was magnificently designed by the architect Christian Kieckens, in a set that will with the public, due to the world-famous names of both the artist and the curator. This certainly be remembered by visitors. exhibition also attracted many visitors from the Netherlands.

This ran concurrently with a Turkish festival in the Centre for Fine Arts, to which

(1) Revolution/Restoration is a longer-term concept to initiate projects that reflect on the Centre for Fine Arts as a building and institution and on what it can offer contemporary art.

II. The programme

BOZAR EXPO contributed with the exhibition Mothers, Goddesses and Sultanas, another exhibition that attracted many visitors, featuring important works loaned from Turkey’s largest museums, including the Topkapi Museum; linked to this there was also a very successful installation by Ayse Erkmen in the Horta Hall, related to the history of the Centre for Fine Arts.

Revolution/Restoration II showed the premiere of the film Looking for Alfred by Johan Grimonprez, a co-production with Zap-O-Matik (Ghent), Anna Sanders Film (Paris), and Film and Video Umbrella (London) – a homage to Hitchcock and to the Centre for Fine Arts. There was a great deal of interest from both the contemporary art press and the public in this screening.

In December the photo installation by Sebastian Schutyser on Adobe Mosques in Mali was shown along the outside of the Centre for Fine Arts (the exterior wall along the rue Baron Hortastraat and rue Ravensteinstraat) in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation. This decision to bring exhibitions to the outside of the building had the effect of attracting attention to the activities within.

From 19 October to 20 December, the Centre for Fine Arts hosted the exhibition Under the Spell of Games, which the National Lottery organised for its 70th anniversary. This provided a picture of lotteries and gambling through the centuries and outlined the history of the National Lottery up to today (19342004). The focus was on the best works from the National Lottery art collection and archives. This exhibition was free and was the first to be held in the newly renovated passageways of the Henry Le Boeuf Hall.

From autumn onwards visitor numbers began to rise and BOZAR EXPO could even be said to have reached cruising speed.

Organisation The Exhibitions department, known as BOZAR EXPO, is responsible for the various exhibitions organised in the Centre for Fine Arts. Publications for these exhibitions, such as catalogues, visitor guides, and exhibition hall texts are also prepared by the EXPO team.

With the Centre for Fine Arts closed down for renovations, there were no exhibitions during the summer of 2004.

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Hans ( Jean) Arp | The Discovery of Form

Rimbaud (1854-1891): A Season in Hell

5 March to 6 June 2004

27 February to 16 May 2004

Although famous mainly as a sculptor, Hans Arp (Strasbourg 1886- Basel 1966) also developed his talents in many other media, producing drawings, collages, graphic work, and reliefs and also writing poetry.

This first retrospective exhibition in our country comprised more than 140 works, grouped together in accordance with the strategies developed by Arp in the formal research that he carried out throughout his life, starting with Dada in Zurich.

The exhibition was organised for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the poet in 2004. Rimbaud spent time in Brussels in July 1873 and his turbulent relationship there with Paul Verlaine, as well as the publication in Brussels of the only book published by Rimbaud during his lifetime in October 1873, Une saison en enfer, r were also important stimuli for holding this exhibition.

Altogether, some 65 original documents were exhibited, from various different institutions, including the Royal Library of Belgium, the Musée Arthur Rimbaud, the Municipal Library of Charleville-Mézières, the Jacques Doucet literary library, and the Royal Archives of Brussels.

Curator: Maria Lluisa Borràs Design: Christian Kieckens Architects, Brussels Catalogue: BOZAR books in collaboration with the Fonds Mercator – 35 EUR Subsidy/sponsorship: the Brussels-Capital Region, the Flemish Community Commission, and Pro Helvetia (Arts Council of Switzerland).

Curator: Bernard Bousmanne

Around Symbolism: Photography and Painting in the 19th Century

Design: B-architects Design: the BLITZ trio (Oscar van den Boogaard, Steven Van

27 February to 16 May 2004

Watermeulen, Sven Grooten).

Visitors’ guide: 6 EUR

The theme of Photography and Painting in the 19th Century focused on Symbolism in painting and equivalent forms of expression in photography.

The selection comprised 188 photographs and 30 paintings, drawings, and engravings on loan from Belgian, French, German, Swiss, and Israeli public and private collections.

The works covered the whole of the 19th century from Daguerre to the end of pictorial photography through a succession of themes: staged photography; photographers and painters in Barbizon; photography as a model; photographers and painters including E. Delacroix, G. Moreau, F. von Stuck, F. Khnopff, E. Degas, J. Ensor, H. Evenepoel, and F. Rops; and, finally, pictorial photography. The photographers represented include some of the greatest of the 19th century: L.J.M. Daguerre, L. Bovier, J.M. Cameron, R. Demachy, E. Hanon, H. Peach Robinson, E.J.C. Puyo, etc.

Exhibition curator: Alain D’Hooghe Design: architectural design by Winston Spriet Catalogue: BOZAR Books in collaboration with the Fonds Mercator – 30 EUR Subsidy/sponsorship: the Brussels-Capital Region and the Flemish Community Commission.

Revolution/Restoration II Raqs Media: The Wherehouse Project From 7 May to 6 June 2004 Raqs Media is an artists’ collective from New Delhi which is concerned with new media, digital art practices, and media theory and research. In general, they deal with both anthropological and sociological themes, as well as urbanisation issues.

For Revolution/Restoration, Raqs Media developed a new project focusing on the specific significance of the Centre for Fine Arts and its relationship with the city. More specifically, the Petit Château refugee centre was held up to it as a mirror, in an attempt to show and compare the cultural experiences in both places.

The Wherehouse Project became a constellation of images, objects, and texts designed as an archaeological examination of and for the present. The project comprised a body of reflections on time, memory, movement, immobility, and accommodation in a world where some are driven out of their homes while others shut themselves away in an illusion of stability. The project was given concrete form with new media and video installations.

Production: Centre for Fine Arts in collaboration with Le Petit Château.

Entrance to the exhibition was free of charge

Johan Grimonprez: Looking for Alfred 19 December 2004

II. The programme

In the summer of 2004 the Centre for Fine Arts made the building available to the artist Johan Grimonprez. He filmed most of his new film Looking for Alfred there, with Alfred Hitchcock lookalikes.

Looking for Alfred is an international co-production between Zap-O-Matik (Ghent), Anna Sanders Films (Paris), Film and Video Umbrella (London), and the Centre for Fine Arts. The film is part of a larger project that concluded in spring 2005 with an exhibition.

The film Looking for Alfredd premiered in the Centre for Fine Arts on 19 December.

More than 150 people came to the viewing.

FreeSpace: a platform for young visual artists

to imagine how Appel looks at paintings and how the paintings of others look at his.

The exhibition incorporates the work of 29 different artists from the great Belgian and Dutch museums.

Curator: Rudi Fuchs Catalogue: BOZAR Books in collaboration with the Fonds Mercator – 20 EUR Subsidy/sponsorship: Fortis The exhibition took place in the context of the Dutch Presidency of the European Union and was supported by King Albert II and Queen Paola

Mothers, Goddesses, and Sultanas Women in Turkey from Prehistoric times to the End of the Ottoman Empire From 6 October 2004 to 16 January 2005

A Turkish festival was organised during the autumn of 2004 at the request of the Turkish ambassador in Belgium, Mr. Erkan Gezer.

This multidisciplinary festival, lasting three and a half months, foIn 2004 the Centre for Fine Arts started a cooperation venture with the NICC art- cused both on the history of Turkey and on contemporary creative ists’ collective from Antwerp. NICC approached the Centre for Fine Arts looking for a art. The festival included the exhibition Mothers, Goddesses, and Sulplace to serve as a platform for young artists to exhibit their works. Under the common tanas, consisting of more than 350 works from the collections of heading “Free Space”, four artists, Gabriel Lester, Dominique Leroy, Sophie Nys and 38 Turkish museums and about 10 private collectors. Additional Fanny Zaman, were invited to exhibit their works at the Centre for Fine Arts. works were also loaned from 17 European museums in Berlin, Budapest, Bordeaux, Entrance to the exhibition was free of charge Bremen, Brussels, London, Paris, Plock, Rome, Toulouse, Utrecht, the Vatican, Venice, and Vienna.

The exhibition invited the viewer to take a journey through time, with the position of women as the underlying theme. In the course of 9,000 years – from prehistoric times Karel Appel. On the road. to the beginning of the 20th century – we encounter the civilisations that have left their From 13 October 2004 to 16 January 2005 traces in Anatolia. The journey starts with the earliest artefacts found at archaeological sites and takes us through celebrated cultures such as those of the Hittites, Greek Karel Appel. On the road (A journey through art in the Low Countries by Rudi Fuchs) took the antiquity, Rome and Byzantium, the Seljuks, and, visitor on a journey through five centuries of art from the Northern and Southern Low obviously, the Ottoman period (1453-1922).

Curators: Filiz Cagman, director of the Topkapi Sarayi Museum Countries. The thread running through this journey was the work of Karel Appel. The differences and similarities between art in Flanders and the Netherlands cover a broad and Nazan Ölçer, director of the Sakip Sabanci Museum, both in panorama. The CoBrA experiment forms the imaginary viewing point.

Istanbul The exhibition curator, Rudi Fuchs, takes Appel with him on a fictitious journey through Flemish and Dutch art and presents his work in a dialogue with the work of other great masters and young artists. By presenting Rubens next to Tuymans and Appel, and with the presence of Van Dyck, Brusselmans, Permeke, Alechinsky, and Raveel, comparisons arise and we discover intimate details that might otherwise escape us. Fuchs tries 31 March to 2 May 2004 and 8 October 2004 to 16 January 2005

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Catalogue: BOZAR Books in collaboration with the Fonds Mercator – 35 Euro Subsidy/sponsorship: The National Lottery In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Cultural Tourism of Turkey and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of Belgium

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Installation by Ayse Erkmen: G.M. The exhibition Mothers, Goddesses and Sultanas, was accompanied by an installation of contemporary art in the Horta Hall. The Turkish artist Ayse Erkmen sought her inspiration in a General Motors car show held at the Centre for Fine Arts in 1936, in which cars were displayed in a setting of eastern carpets and little palm trees in the Horta Hall.

Entrance to the exhibitions was free of charge

Adobe Mosques of Mali December 2004 The exhibition consisted of fifteen life-size photographs of earthen mosques by the Belgian photographer Sebastian Schutyser (born in Bruges in 1968), who between 1998 and 2002 made an inventory of the 520 earthen mosques in the inner delta of the River Niger in Mali. Schutyser was recently awarded the Golden Clover by the Belgian Vocation Foundation.

The black and white photographs of the small village mosques bear witness to centuriesold traditional building and restoration techniques in West Africa, typical of Sudanese architecture (named after the former French Sudan, including today’s Mali).

The photographs were printed on canvas and exhibited in the former shop windows of the facade of the Centre for Fine Arts in the rue Ravensteinstraat and along the rue Baron Hortastraat, and could therefore be seen from the street.

Subsidy: Cooperation with the Directorate-General of Development Cooperation (DGOS) of the Federal Government Department of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Belgian Vocation Foundation also supported this exhibition

The BOZAR THEATRE, BOZAR DANCE, and BOZAR LITERATURE programme 17

II. The programme

Mission In 2004, the Theatre, Dance, and Literature department organised almost 65 activities.

In addition to its artistic work (prospecting, documentation, networking, and programming), the department finalises the arrangements with artists, draws up contracts and cooperation agreements, and looks after the production side.

Theater op de middag is a perfect supplement to the existing range of Flemish theatre in the capital city. Its success is due to the diverse range of plays, the reasonable entry price (3.80 euro), the time of day, and above all, the social network that develops among the members of the – slightly older – audience. The related promotion campaign by Onthaal en Promotie Brussel («Brussels Welcome and Promotion») under the heading “Broodje Brussel”, with a monthly diary of lunchtime activities, has attracted a new public.

International theatre (11 productions) — Peter Brook BOZAR THEATRE A ten-day event focused on theatre legend Peter Brook took place in the Centre for Theater op de Middag (14 productions) Fine Arts. BOZAR THEATRE, the Film Museum, and ADAC, our in-house FrenchThe «Theater op de middag» (lunchtime theatre) series comprises language partner, collaborated intensively to throw light on both the theatre and films 14 performances on Tuesday afternoons from October to April, of Peter Brook. alternating with the Tuesday afternoons, which are devoted to literature.

The great French actor Michel Piccoli partnered Natasha Parry (Brook’s wife) in the play Ta Main dans la Mienne by Carol Rocamora. The two actors were directed by Peter In 2004 BOZAR THEATRE presented the cream of Flemish Brook in this highly theatrical work on the relationship between the ailing Chekhov theatre, with both well- established names and new talent. Classic and his beloved Olga Knipper. This intimate performance was acted in French. The works such as De Wereld van Soo Moereman by Walschap, Kwartet by five evenings were completely sold out (2,000 people) (13-17 January 2004).

Heiner Müller, De Leeuw van Vlaanderen by Conscience, and Letter to my Father by Franz Kafka, as well as new texts by Peer Wittenbols, Christophe Veke- Le Costûme, a South African play by Can Themba, directed by Peter Brook, was also man, and Josse De Pauw, appeared on the bill. Recent works by internationally known staged. The well-known African actor Sotigui Kouyaté gave a wonderful performance authors such as Martin Crimp and Neil Labute were also staged in translation. in the main role in this moving fable about life in the townships. This production also went extremely well (900 people) (22-24 January 2004).

Many well-known faces appeared during the lunch hour in the Centre for Fine Arts: Nand Buyl, Sien Eggers, Dirk Tuypens, Veerle Dobbelaere, Mattias Sercu, Dirk Buyse, Simultaneously with this, the Film Museum showed Portrait Intime, Simon Brook’s film Bob De Moor, Tania Van der Sanden, Chokri Ben Chika, and others. For certain pro- about his father. Other films of and by Michel Piccoli and starring Natasha Parry were ductions there were discussions before or after the show. also selected. There was a great deal of interest in these.

Activities

The ten-day focus on Peter Brook and the interesting range of films attracted considerable media interest and largely Brussels audiences came to this event in huge numbers (3,500 people), although theatre-lovers from every corner of the country also travelled to the Centre.

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The cooperation with the partners was very successful, and varied target groups were reached. For next season, we are looking at whether another well-known figure active in several different fields of the arts can again serve as the focus for a joint programme.

— Patrice Chéreau In the series of well-known personalities, the French dramatist, actor, and film director Patrice Chéreau was invited to the Centre for Fine Arts. On two consecutive evenings (22 and 23 October 2004) he read Dostojevsky’s Notes from the Underground in French.

On 24 October 2004 the film Ceux qui m’aiment prendront le train was shown at the invitation of BOZAR CINEMA and the Film Museum. Before it was screened there was an extremely lively discussion with an animated Chéreau.

At the same time as these performances, there was an extremely successful retrospective of Chéreau’s films in the Film Museum.

Theatre in the context of a BOZAR event (2 performances) — In the context of the Festival in the Centre : Wondkoorts (9 May 2004) The Zuidelijk Toneel Hollandia took the stage with the soliloquy by Bram Koopmans, directed by Ivo van Megen, about a tortured man who tries to discover the magic law of happiness, an unusual adaptation of A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud.

— In the context of the Klara Day : Nest (4 december 2004) At the annual Klara Day, the Muziektheater Transparant presented Nest, a theatrical text by Oscar van den Boogaard to the (soundscape) music of Senjan Jansen, sung and acted by the well-known Flemish actor Steven van Watermeulen. The set was produced by the B-architects (Oscar van den Boogaard, Steven van Watermeulen, and Sven Grooten), the «house» artists who also produced the Rimbaud exhibition.

The French premiere of this production took place during Lille 2004, and it was presented in Dutch only in Leuven (in the Stuc, where the rehearsals were held) and in the Centre for Fine Arts. This concluded the Klara Day .

BOZAR DANCE (10 performances) Charleroi Danses and Frédéric Flamand and Thom Mayne (23 March 2004) The Belgian choreographer Frédéric Flamand has attracted worldwide fame with his choreographies for his Charleroi Danses company. In his work the scenography and architecture share central place with movement and dance.

II. The programme

Akram Khan (16 and 17 September 2004) In the context of the India Festival, BOZAR DANCE invited the Bengali-British Dancer Akram Khan. Khan is not unknown in Brussels (he studied at Parts) or in Belgium. His choreographies, which combine contemporary and Indian dance, are very popular with the public. However, for the India Festival, he presented an exceptional events programme. In particular, under the heading Ronin, he presented the kathak “events” The performance of Silent Collisions was invited to the Centre for Fine Arts. The Ameri- dance from the country of his birth. The dance was accompanied live by excellent musican architect Thom Mayne produced illustrations for the scenography, based on the cians (tabla, song, cello, and sitar). novel Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.

This cooperation, as part of the Flanders Klara Festival, was very successful. With joint promotion reaching different audiences, this excellent dancer attracted a large audiIn cooperation with the architectural journal A+, (published by the Information Cen- ence. tre for Architecture, Town Planning and Design), Thom Mayne gave a workshop for final-year scenography students from La Cambre and St Luc at the end of the perfor- Contemporary Turkish Dance platform (15 and 16 October 2004) mance. Thom Mayne and Frédéric Flamand gave a lecture in which they discussed the In the context of the festival “Les Floraisons du Botanique”, new works by Turkish chorelationship between the human body and the city (and its architecture). A PowerPoint reographers Aydin Teker, Mihran Tomasyan, and Safak Uysal were performed in cooppresentation illustrated the subject and the public was introduced to the architecture of eration with Le Botanique. Round-table discussions were also organised, along with a Morphosis, Mayne’s architectural office, in a very tangible way.

DJ set by Arkin Allen.

Demand for these large-scale dance productions remains very great in Brussels. There was enormous interest in Silent Collisions, and many young people in particular attended. The added value for the Centre was in the boundary-crossing character of the performance and the possibility of interesting fringe programming.

Royal Ballet of Cambodia (28 October 2004) This performance, part of the programme marking the 75th anniversary of the Henry Le Boeuf Hall, attracted wide interest from the press and the public. The targeted campaign by the Communication Department also contributed to the size and diversity of the audience attending the event. All important technical requirements were met: the live music and special lighting evoked the atmosphere of Cambodian culture and the public could easily follow the performance with the help of a carefully designed programme booklet. The high level of professionalism of the 45 musicians and dancers left the audience extremely enthusiastic about this sophisticated, albeit not so easily accessible, musical and choreographic culture.

Les Ballets C de la B (24 June 2004) BOZAR DANCE concluded the 2003-2004 season with the highly acclaimed production Foi by Les Ballet C de la B. Following a lengthy world tour of more than 100 performances, Foi was seen for the first – and only – time in Belgium at the Centre for Fine Arts. Foi, choreographed by the Flemish-Moroccan choreographer Nederlands Dans Theater and Bob Wilson (18-19 November 2004) Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui from Ghent, focuses on the relationship be- BOZAR DANCE decided (as long ago as 2003) to commission a creative work from tween faith and myth. The ten dancers together tell a story based American director Bob Wilson in connection with the Dutch EU presidency, together on their personal experiences. Sidi Larbi successfully expresses their emotions in strik- with the Nederlands Dans Theater and the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg. This joint vening images and physical dance. ture produced 2 Lips and Dances and Space. The work premiered in Luxembourg (Grand Théâtre) in the autumn of 2004, was shown in the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, and The fascinating choreography and the dancers’ and singers’ diverse origins (Iceland, was then performed in Frankfurt.

Korea, Sweden, the United States, France, and Belgium) added an extra dimension to the spectacle. The Flemish ensemble Capilla Flamenca played late medieval music live For Brussels, an adapted version was produced to fit the dimensions of our stage. Expecon stage, and four vocalists conducted by Christine Leboutte sang polyphonic music tations were very high, as Bob Wilson is seen as pretty much one of the most influential from Ars Nova to popular songs. The Henry Le Boeuf Hall was packed, including many dramatists of our time. This made NDT III, with its slightly older dancers, the perfect young people and immigrants. company to perform his choreography.

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The costumes were designed by the celebrated Dutch fashion duo Viktor & Rolf. The music was by well-known Italian composer Michael Galasso, and the repetitive text by the autistic Christopher Knowles, who has been one of Wilson’s most faithful colleagues for more than twenty years.

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Mustafa Kaplan n (6 and 7 December 2004) Mustafa Kaplan can justifiably be seen as one of the leading figures of contemporary dance in Turkey. Together with Filiz Sizanli, he performed some breathtaking duets.

The evening comprised two choreographies. First, the older Dolap, in which the two dancers entered into battle with a fridge, defying the laws of gravity in an exciting and playful way. The second part was a more recent work, Sek Sek, a very energetic performance of falling down and standing up to a melancholy folk song by Erkan Ogür, which was hummed along to by the Turkish part of the audience.

Two beautiful and successful evenings in the context of the Turkish Festival. With many organisers from Belgium and abroad in the theatre, these performances provided Kaplan with a breakthrough onto the European stage.

BOZAR LITERATURE Literatuur op de Middag (12 performances) Literature was given plenty of scope on 12 Tuesday afternoons, alternating with the «Theater op de middag» series. Three writers, Joseph Pearce, Saskia De Coster, and Yves Petry, talked about the highs and lows of their writing and about their most recent novels. During the exhibition Rimbaud: A Season in Hell, BOZAR LITERATURE joined the «Midis de la poésie et de la prose in examining Verlaine and Rimbaud, as well as these two writer friends’ stay in Brussels. This multidisciplinary approach was clearly popular with the public as demonstrated by the broad interest shown in the series.

In the autumn the emphasis was, as always, on contemporary prose. The works of Dirk Verbruggen, Dimitri Verhulst, and Annelies Verbeke were highlighted in a discussion with journalist Frank Hellemans. During the Dutch Presidency of the EU, the focus was on the COBRA generation. Marc Reynebeau talked about Hugo Claus and Peter Hofman about Lucebert. Following the Turkish Festival in the Centre for Fine Arts, Joris Iven talked about Nazim Hikmet. As the translator of this wellknown Turkish poet, he provided a portrait of this author, a controversial figure because of his communist sympathies.

The Literatuur op de middag (lunchtime literature) series always attracts a solid core of interested people.

II. The programme

Budget-wise, BOZAR LITERATURE was responsible only for the programme in the Centre for Fine Arts. A single pass gave access to all the Groot Beschrijf/Grand Ecrit literary activities in the city.

Literature in cooperation with Het Groot Beschrijf / Le Grand Ecrit (25 April 2004) Literature in cooperation with Behoud de Begeerte (3 performances) Litera — De Geletterde Mensen were invited to the Centre for Fine Arts on two different The fifth anniversary of this literary festival was celebrated with the slogan “Literature Brusselt”. At the Centre for Fine Arts literature teamed up with the visual arts. evenings.

Frank Van Haecke and Alain D’Hooghe, the producers of the exhibition On Symbolism: Photography and Painting in the 19th century, guided the public through the exhibition, The young and acclaimed Flemish authors Bart Moeyaert and Erwin Mortier enterand actor Steven Van Watermeulen took visitors through Rimbaud’s world. Bernard tained the public with their Dutch colleague, the erudite Adriaan Van Dis (26 March Bousmanne, the driving force behind the Rimbaud exhibition, did the same for French- 2004). During this fascinating evening the three writers talked about their origins and language visitors. families, the curse of the past, and forgetting and remembering.

Saskia De Coster discussed her favourite poem by Rimbaud in a cyber decor, and the Christophe Vekeman, Paul Mennes, and the musician Mauro Pawlovski appeared on Rideau de Bruxelles put together a French-language programme with Jean-Pierre Ver- the stage together in a magnificent spectacle (24 April 2004). This young generation of heggen in a comical monologue on Artaud Rimbur. The actor Alain Eloy read a few of artists fascinated the public with their original texts and strong musical background. the less well-known poems by this poète maudit. In the rue Hortastraat the Ritz quintet from Ghent with its Amorf DJs rapped verses à la Rimbaud to an idiosyncratic, swing- — Koningsblauw (26 May 2004). Every May a tribute is paid to the poet Herman de ing collage.

Coninck. Ten poets, including Anna Enquist, Luuk Gruwez, Myriam Van Hee, Leonard Nolens, and Anton Korteweg, read from their own or each other’s works. KoningsThe Cabaret Voltaire brought Het Groot Beschrijf to a successful and entertaining end. blauw has now become a familiar concept; it is an ode to poetry and an anthology of the Kurt Van Eeghem entertained a group of poets, performers, and musicians – Didi de best poetry of the past year. The Centre for Fine Arts hopes to uphold this tradition in Paris, Peter Holvoet-Hanssen, Vitalski, Jan Mysjkin, Rokus Hofstede, and Geert Buel- future. ens – in an exact replica of the famous bar in Zürich where the Dadaists regularly met.

Tres Tigres Tristes and cabaret artiste Annemie Gils provided the magnificent back- Despite the quality, originality, and extremely high-quality scenography of the Behoud ground music. de Begeerte literary evenings, public interest was not very great.

Most of the activities during the two-day festival of Het Groot Beschrijf/Le Grand Literature as interdisciplinary programming Ecrit were planned in the lower city, which meant that the programme in the Centre — Patti Smith & rock’n Rimbaud (26 March 2004) American rock legend Patti Smith did not attract huge interest, with the exception of Cabaret Voltaire. Next time, BOZAR accepted an invitation to put on an exceptional concert with her own band on the theme LITERATURE and the Beschrijf will make sure that there is a better balance of activi- of her favourite poet Arthur Rimbaud, in connection with Rimbaud: A Season in Hell. ties between the upper and lower city.

The rock legend read texts and sang songs by Rimbaud, as well as her own well-known and less well-known songs. Thousands of rock fans – both young and old – came to the The formula of bilingual activities will be maintained. The Rideau de Bruxelles contin- concert in the Henry Le Boeuf Hall. ues to be enthusiastic about presenting a joint programme in the Centre in future during Het Groot Beschrijf /Le Grand Ecrit. Cooperation was excellent with our faithful — Story marathon (25 September 2004). In cooperation with CICEB, the Europepartners, such as Het Beschrijf and Promotion des Lettres françaises. A small working an Cultural Institutes in Belgium, celebrated storytellers (re)introduced the public to group in the Centre put together this boundary-crossing programme in consensus with some old stories and fairy tales during a story marathon. Nathalie Bondoux, Pedro del Het Beschrijf.

Hoyo and Tatiana Rodríguez-Castro, Vigga Bro, Francesco Italiano, Chantal Gerday (sign language), Suse Weiße, Malachy O’Rourke, Clive Hopwood, and Anu Junnonen entertained the public – which had a very international character – with a fascinating

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combination of traditions and cultures. It was the first time that this sort of international company performed together. At the end of the marathon the storytellers invited the audience (80 people) onto the stage for a comic multilingual version of Little Red Riding Hood.

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— The Ex – A beautifull frenzy ! (28 November 2004) The 25th birthday of legendary Dutch music group The Ex attracted a new audience to the Centre for Fine Arts. Films accompanied by live music, dance performances, a children’s workshop with electronic music produced by Silent Block, poets such as Simon Vinkenoog, installations, and concerts of rock, jazz and world music, added up to a unique event.

The visitors, the press, and the sponsors were full of praise for this innovative initiative by the Centre. The multidisciplinary character and an appropriate infrastructure, with the opening of the new Terarken rooms, meant that this event – in conjunction with the Dutch EU presidency – served as a model for the contemporary image of the Centre for Fine Arts.

— Literature in the Turkey Festival (2 and 9 December 2004) Whilst European government leaders considered Turkey’s accession to the EU, BOZAR LITERATURE invited two Turkish writers (Bejan Matur and Melisa Gurpinar), as well as Nedim Gürsel, to talk about their works, their Turkish roots, European literature, and the intellectual progress of women in Turkey. These literary salons were also attended by the Turkish community, although the audience for this elitist programme, despite its interesting content, was rather small .

Organisation The Centre is eager to expand the literary programme, with the Centre also putting on its own (co)productions. From autumn 2004 responsibility for communication and publicity for theatre, dance, and literature was taken over by the Communication Department, leaving the person responsible for artistic activities free to concentrate on drawing up a multidisciplinary programme within the context of the artistic concerns and practice of the Centre for Fine Arts. This sort of programming requires a great deal of consultation with the other artistic departments and is extremely labour-intensive.

The BOZAR CINEMA programme 23

II. The programme

Mission

screenings, these represent an opportunity to meet great directors who are involved in making and distributing quality films and are concerned to safeguard these films and pass them on to future generations. These film-makers’ visits have led to retrospectives of their work in the Film Museum.

— 23 April 2004, Hall M Take care of your scarf, Tatjana Guest : Aki Kaurismaki Activities — 10 May 2004, Henry Le Boeuf Hall Close Up The three main activities of BOZAR CINEMA are: Guest : Abbas Kiarostami — 1 June 2004, Henry Le Boeuf Hall Saraband, Young Film Fans Ingmar Bergman’s last film The Young Film Fans series, co-produced with the Royal Belgian Film Archive, started — 15 September 2004, Henry le Boeuf Hall Gegen Die Wand (Golden Bear at the Berlin in the 2003-2004 season. Classic films are shown at 11 o’clock in the morning on five Festival) Sundays a season in the large Henry Le Boeuf Hall for children from the age of 6. The Guests: Güven Kirac, actor and the group of musicians from the film films are preceded each time by an exciting bilingual introduction provided by Lan- — 24 October 2004, Hall M Ceux qui m’aiment prendront le train terna Magica, which explains the film being shown in an entertaining way. The press Guest : Patrice Chéreau was full of praise for this initiative, which has built up a loyal following.

— 25-26 December 2004, Hall M Heimat 3 — 11 January 2004 Singin’ in the rain (Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly, USA, 1952, 102’) — 15 February 2004 Zazie dans le métro (Louis Malle, France, 1959, 92’) Multidisciplinary projects and Expanding Cinema — 18 April 2004 The Neverending Story (Wolfgang Petersen, Germany, 1984, 93’) Using a multidisciplinary approach, BOZAR CINEMA also stimulates the use of film — 10 October 2004 Laurel & Hardy Festival and video in other art forms. The underlying idea is to show the close relationship that — 5 December 2004 Gulliver’s travel (Dave & Max Fleischer, USA, 1939, 74’) exists between film and other art forms, by using modern techniques and exciting forms resulting from the merging of music and film (film presentations accompanied by musiSpecial screenings cians) and of film and the visual arts (installations, video, and experimental film). These BOZAR CINEMA organises four or five special screenings per season, also in co- projects bear witness to new trends, to an innovative approach to film. production with the Royal Belgian Film Archive. Like the previews and exceptional Since the 2003-2004 season the Royal Belgian Film Archive and the Centre for Fine Arts – which set up the BOZAR CINEMA department in 2004 – have collaborated on the co-production of two new series that will be presented in the main Henry Le Boeuf Hall: one series, the Young Film Fans, focuses on children; the other is aimed at a broad-based audience. Besides this, Expanding Cinema is exploring the limits of digital media.

The New Terarken rooms and their multifunctional character form an ideal setting for these multidisciplinary projects, which are part of the artistic line taken by the “new” Centre for Fine Arts.

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— 28 November 2004 Carte Blanche for the Dutch group The Ex: film ( Jem Cohen), video (Yael Bartana, Rosa Barba, Bani Koshnoudi, and Marion Coutts), and installation (Rosa Barba).

— 19 December 2004 Looking for Alfred, d premiere of the film by Johan Grimonprez about Hitchcock and Magritte.

Organisation The Centre for Fine Arts building accommodates the Royal Belgian Film Archive, which was established in 1938 and is one of the oldest and richest film archives in Europe. Its collection currently comprises around 100,000 shorts and feature films, both fictional films and documentaries, as well as titles from the whole history of film since its beginnings.

Since 1962 the Film Museum, where items from the collection are regularly shown, has been located in the Centre for Fine Arts.

BOZAR STUDIOS 25

II. The programme

Mission BOZAR STUDIOS is the arts education service of the Centre for Fine Arts. 2004 was the first full working year for this department. BOZAR STUDIOS provides an educational framework for the Centre’s cultural activities. Aimed at children, young people, and adults alike, activities include interactive studios, workshops, and performances.

In November 2004 it was decided to separate public-oriented activities and bookings from the artistic side of things and the content of the service and to transfer them to the Communication Department. The department can fully focus on the artistic side and the content. In this way BOZAR STUDIOS became a full artistic and specialist department of the Centre for Fine Arts.

Activities The ABC MediaLab Cooperation with our partner ART BASICS for Children (ABC) continued. Because of a lack of space, the planned ABC Media Lab, an exhibition that focuses on sound and images, was organised in the ABC workshops in De Fabriek in Schaerbeek/Schaarbeek instead of in our premises. The Young Reporters project did take place in the Centre for Fine Arts. The 30 young people who participated became semi-professional film-makers and produced a one-hour film on the Centre for Fine Arts after one year of intensive workshops. The film was shot during the 2004 edition of Party Time at the Centre for Fine Arts.

Interactive studios during exhibitions For the spring exhibitions Arthur Rimbaud. : A Season in Hell and

Hans Arp: The Discovery of Form, ABC developed two interactive studios. The Visual Poetry Studio in the first exhibition included an exhibition with examples of visual poetry from all periods and from all over the world and a workshop where children could write their own poems. The Visual Poetry Studio was open to schools on weekdays, and to children over the age of six for Sunday workshops.

The Arp Studio was designed quite differently. At the request of the STUDIOS, a studio was built in the exhibition area and was permanently available during the exhibition’s opening hours. Parents could do their own thing there with their children, without any supervision. The various tasks were explained with assignment sheets. Families could visit the Arp Studio at any time of day. The Studio was a big success; 5% of the exhibition visitors were children under the age of 12.

We attribute the success of the Arp Studio to the freedom provided by a permanent studio area. Parents did not have to plan their visit in advance and could supervise their children themselves. In this way all the members of the family stayed together during a visit to the Centre for Fine Arts. We decided to provide a permanent, freely accessible studio in the exhibition area for future exhibitions.

The ABC contract came to an end. The experience gave us many new insights into working with children on art education. Our facilitators worked closely together with the ABC team and gained an insight into its approach. The Appel Studio in the exhibition Karel Appel: Underway was the first studio to be created by our own facilitators. Led

by Ilse Wijnen (in Dutch) and Nathalie Desmaele (in French), the team came up with the activities for the Appel Studio. The Appel Studio was designed as a painter’s studio, and introduced the children to the basic principles of (abstract) painting; We commissioned the famous designer duo Johan Daenen and Wim De Coster to design the studio. They planned a studio consisting of solid, basic structures that can be

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set up and organised differently, depending on the space allocated for the studio in the exhibition area, and also used in different ways. The design and the materials used are extremely child-friendly.

Educational framework

Story Theatre from Turkey The Mothers, Goddesses, and Sultanas exhibition inspired us to produce our first family and school performance. In a cosy miniature theatre, with cushions, carpets, and atmospheric lighting, a wise old woman told funny, sad, mysterious, and romantic stories from the rich tradition of Turkish tales. She initiated the children into all sorts of Turkish rituals, symbols, and customs, such as washing hands, henna painting, the water pipe, etc. The young audience not only listened, but also participated in an active experience which provided a different look at Turkish society.

For the exhibitions the range of traditional tours was extended by introducing active discovery voyages for schools. In future teachers can prepare visits at school in advance in great detail, using our educational folders, which can be downloaded from the website. For individual visitors to the exhibition, permanent tours were programmed on Sundays (in Dutch and English at 15.00 and in French at 16.00). These were particularly well received.

BOZAR STUDIOS extended its educational activities in almost all the disciplines represented in the Centre for Fine Arts.

Spring 2004 Hans Arp. The Discovery of Form School groups 908 people Boulez and Stravinski’s Rite of Spring In an exceptional event for the BOZAR STUDIOS, the conductor Pierre Boulez agreed Around Symbolism: Photography and painting in the 19th century 1,802 people to talk to our young audience during a very special concert with the London Symphony School groups Orchestra on 26 October 2004. Before this exceptional event we worked with various Arthur Rimbaud: A Season in Hell 5,059 people schools for a whole week, with workshops, dance music, and a cartoon film. The Henry School groups Le Boeuf Hall was packed with a crowd of enthusiastic children, who listened without Autumn 2004 a sound to the fantastic Pierre Boulez and an explosive performance of the masterpiece. Karel Appel: Underway 5,355 people Before the concert we showed a film of the workshop week, obviously with excerpts School groups Voyages of discovery 775 children from the film that the young people had made to Stravinski’s music.

Mothers, Goddesses, and Sultanas School groups 4,839 people Ictus studio 400 children With the help of the composer and choreographer Sarah Goldfarb, three Ictus musi- Voyages of discovery cians created contemporary music for a silent film, together with children and young people. The third year of the Arc-En-Ciel primary school presented a musical word The educational introductions before our concerts continue to be a familiar aspect game; a group of young people created an electro-acoustic soundtrack; and students of for our concert-going public. The introductions for schools as part of the “Klassiek the composition class at the Sint-Agatha-Berchem/Berchem-Ste-Agathe academy per- met Klasse/Le Classique, c’est classe (Classical with Class)” project were extended formed an improvisation. The result was a unique performance during the 2004 edition with the financial support of the Flemish Community, Brussels Affairs. The subsidy also made it possible for more young people to attend our concerts. of Party Time at the Centre for Fine Arts.

For the first time, BOZAR STUDIOS also provided introductions to the theatre and dance performances of the Centre for Fine Arts. We were always able to count on the cooperation of theatre people, choreographers, actors and dancers.

Given architecture’s important place in the Centre’s artistic project, we included several activities related to the building in the programme. The ‘From Horta to Horta’ tours , which show the public the stages of the renovation of the Centre for Fine Arts, continue to be a success. For children we have developed a playful voyage of discovery through the building, in cooperation with the not-for-profit organisation, Patrimoine à Roulettes.

Events

II. The programme

BOZARSUNDAYS On Sunday 24 October 2004, we launched the new family project, BOZARSUNDAYS, with a great deal of press attention. Every Sunday, except in the school holidays, families could spend the day in the Centre for Fine Arts. The families were served breakfast in the BOZAR STUDIOS, and then the adults and children could choose from various activities: tours (building and expo), voyages of discovery (building), workshops (Appel Studio) and performances (morning concert and Story Theatre from Turkey). Young and old came together in the BOZAR STUDIOS to end the day with 4 o’ clock tea. The public liked this formula, the activities and supervisors and the pleasant location.

Teachers’ days As the education sector is our most important target group, we invite teachers 3 times a season to come and learn about our activities. Every first Sunday of a new exhibition period (autumn and spring) more than 700 teachers attend the expo teachers’ day. The publication of our annual schools brochure is accompanied by a general teachers’ day (May) to present the next season.

‘General public’ events BOZAR STUDIOS is also responsible for the Centre for Fine Arts’ participation in a large number of general public events, such as Open Monuments Day, Heritage Day, the League of Families’ Brussels Day and the Brussels Student Day. Specific activities are planned each time to reflect the event themes. Participation in these events enables us to attract a new, broad audience. This is also the aim of the annual Festival in the Centre, which in 2004 (9 May 2004) was attended by 3000 visitors, including 750 children.

Organisation 2004 was the year in which studios were built in the former offices in the Errera building (basement). Since October 2004, schools and families have had their own space in the Centre for Fine Arts. BOZAR STUDIOS has furnished two studios, a multipurpose hall, a cloakroom, a canteen and a kitchen with simple Ikea furniture.

On weekdays, schools are invited into the BOZAR STUDIOS, and on Sundays families come for the BOZAR SUNDAYS. School classes can picnic and families can have breakfast and 4 o’ clock tea on Sundays in the canteen. Capacity is limited to 50 people.

The workshops are held in the studios. One of the studios has 4 computers and audiovisual equipment. There is storage room for materials in the various areas. This space is also available for the in-house educational partners: Youth & Music, Le Rideau de Bruxelles and BRONKS.

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III. Partners

BOZAR FUNDING / Corporate sponsoring & patronage

Mission

III. Partners

The publications appearing since 2003 have attracted a number of new advertisers in a In order to be able to carry out the Centre for the Fine Arts’ artistic plan, to constantly short period of time, for whom the Centre for Fine Arts’ public represents an interestimprove the infrastructure and to organise prestigious exhibitions, it is essential to gen- ing target group: erate permanent sources of income to supplement the public financing of the institu- — BOZARMAGAZINE (5 issues a year); tion and ticket sales.

— concert programmes; — annual brochures The BOZAR FUNDING department has been set up to help reach this objective. This The sale of advertising space means that publications are now self-supporting. is enabling us to develop better relations with the business world and focus attention in Sponsoring a hard-hitting way on the Centre for Fine Arts’ artistic life and unique infrastructure.

In 2004 we developed a new two-pronged sponsoring policy: In a recent organisational change (September 2004), all commercial activities which are — developing structural partnerships with a limited number of companies (horizontal separate from the artistic programming have been brought together in a single depart- approach); — targeted sponsoring of concerts and exhibitions (vertical approach). ment.

The Centre for Fine Arts now has four structural partners: Belgacom, Delta Lloyd and Akzo Nobel from March 2003 already, and now also BMW which is supporting These commercial activities cover the following areas: initiatives for resident artists.

— advertising : the sale of advertising space in our publications; — sponsoring : developing structural partnerships with a limited number of companies With respect to targeted sponsoring: — the Fortis Group acted as sponsor for the “Karel Appel” exhibition; this partnership and attracting sponsors for major concerts and exhibitions; — corporate events : hiring out space for receptions, nocturnes, concert boxes and can serve as a model because Fortis developed a major media campaign that considerably boosted our own promotional effort; business seats; — membership: Implementing this commercial policy effectively calls for specific — telephone operator Base sponsored the Turkey Festival through its Ay Yildiz prepaid mobile telephone card. know-how and qualified personnel.

— Concert sponsors and companies who bought business seats are: AT Kearney, Lhoist, Swift, ING , Suez, Base.

Commercial services In 2004, BOZAR FUNDING’s commercial services were as follows: Advertising

Corporate events International level concerts and prestige exhibitions in the Centre for Fine Arts offer companies unique PR opportunities.

The service was reviewed in 2004. From now on companies can opt for full-facility

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packages including parking, cocktails, reception rooms etc. The organisation of private evening visits (nocturnes) proved an increasing success at the autumn exhibitions.

In 2004 over 30 companies organised events in the Centre for Fine Arts.

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YOUNG PATRONS A brand new initiative (set up in 2004) was developed in order to involve a new target group, aged between 30 and 40, in the Centre for Fine Arts project. The initiative is directed at the international community. Every month members can choose from four Membership activities in the Centre for Fine Arts. Certain activities are “YOUNG PATRONS recThe Patrons Members of the Brussels Philharmonic Society have long been an invalu- ommended”, in many cases followed by a Young Patrons’ dinner, often with artists. In able support for the musical activities of the Centre for Fine Arts, which until 2002 this way a network has grown up spontaneously of young professional people around an were provided by the Philharmonic Society. artistic project. The YOUNG PATRONS category consisted at the end of 2004 of 30 Constant efforts are made to create regular contacts with prominent persons and insti- members. tutions that can support the Centre’s artistic project and can act as its ambassadors.

Right now the Membership offer covers six different membership categories, BOZAR CLUB (Previously the club of the Brussels Philharmonic society) offering a huge freedom of choice : This Club is made up of potential members of the BOZAR PATRONS, and is for people who have reached the age limit for the YOUNG PATRONS (+/- age 40) and wish to MUSIC PATRONS (Formerly patron members of the Brussels Philharmonic Society). go to concerts regularly in a friendly atmosphere.

In 2004, 58 persons were still members of the MUSIC PATRONS category. These peo- The number of members remains stable (40 persons), but the faces change, because ple take a very active part in musical life and their regular presence witnesses to their these are often people staying for just a few years in Belgium. Every month Club meminterest in our musical heritage and its contemporary interpreters. bers can select two activities out of a possible four. Once a month a dinner or informal This group is becoming international in character with French and Dutch members, as meeting with the artists is organised after a concert. well as individual persons of German or American nationality.

The tax deductibility remains a valuable plus for those who can benefit from it.

BOZAR FRIENDS BOZAR FRIENDS enjoy the following advantages : BOZAR EXPO PROMOTERS — 10% reduction on individual entry to productions by BOZAR, Rideau de Bruxelles (previously «promoters» of the Exhibitions Society) and the ADAC; Plastic arts lovers find their place among the BOZAR EXPO PROMOTERS, the op- — 10% reduction on purchases in the BOZARSHOP; posite number to the MUSIC PATRONS. In 2004 this category had 55 members. 7 — postal subscription to the two-monthly BOZARMAGAZINE; promoters have left this group to join BOZAR PATRONS. — subscription to the quarterly BOZARFRIENDS newsletter; — free New Year Concert followed by a reception; BOZAR PATRONS — meetings with artists, conferences, museum visits, etc.; This new membership category was set up in September 2003. Membership of BOZAR — invitations to private viewings at the Centre.

PATRONS combines the advantages of MUSIC PATRONS with those of BOZAR EXPO PROMOTERS. This category contained 138 persons in the 2004-2005 season.

Cultural partners

III. Partners

Cultural partners in Belgium — Royal Belgian Film Archive During its 75 year history the Centre for Fine Arts has always been able to count on — Queen Elizabeth of Belgium Music Competition faithful cultural partners willing to commit themselves to the process of creating, dis- — Europhonia Foundation covering and disseminating culture.

— Europalia International Foundation — Festival of Flanders Brussels - Europe They bring variety to the programming with products that the Centre cannot under- — Festival of Wallonia take for its own account.

— Jeugd en Muziek Brussel — Jeunesses Musicales de Bruxelles From films (daily programme of the Film Museum and targeted events of the Royal — Jeunesse et Arts Plastiques Belgian Film Archive) to stage plays (co-productions of the Music and Poetry cycle with — Young Belgian Painting the Rideau de Bruxelles), young people’s events (BRONKS Youth Theatre, Jeunesse — Koninklijk Muntschouwburg/Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Musicale, Jeugd en Muziek, Jeunesse et Arts Plastiques) to music (concert and program- — De Kunstberg/Le Mont des Arts ming of the Belgian National Orchestra, the Festival of Flanders and the Festival of — The Belgian National Orchestra Wallonia), from dance to variety to literature (Het beschrijf/L’Ecrit, la Promotion des — Promotion des Lettres belges de langue française Lettres belges de langue française): all these partners contribute to creating satisfac- — Rideau de Bruxelles tion among a very diverse audience. They strengthen the multi-disciplinary nature of — Brussels Philharmonic Society. the Centre – one of the artistic pillars of our cultural project – and participate via all kinds of partnerships, collaborations, and co-productions partly in the Centre’s own programming.

Foreign cultural partners

Each of these partners has its own identity, reflecting its constantly evolving history.

With their own particular identities they frequently place their stamp on the cultural diversity of the programming.

At international level the Centre for Fine Arts is a member of the European Concert Halls Association (ECHO). This organisation, founded in 1994, brings together the directors of 13 top European concert halls, together with the director of New York’s Carnegie Hall.

The main regular cultural partners are: — ADAC / Exploration du Monde — Het Beschrijf — BRONKS Jeugdtheater

ECHO is striving to promote more cultural exchanges and to work on various podia.

The association launches and promotes projects in two specific areas: supporting young international-level interpreters (Rising Stars) and the creation of new compositions. ECHO commissions work from composers working together with cinema and

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video producers and choreographers to develop new forms of interdisciplinary projects, adapted to concert hall format.

Since 2000 these programmes have received support from the European Commission under the Culture 2000 programme.

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ECHO members in 2004 were: — Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam — The Athens Concert Hall Organization — Festspielhaus Baden-Baden — Symphony Hall Birmingham — Centre for Fine Arts Brussels — Kölnerr Philharmonie (Cologne) — Barbican Centre London — South Bank Centre London — Carnegie Hall New York — Cité de la Musique Paris — Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris — Konserthuset Stockholm — Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (Vienna) — Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft (Vienna)

International mission

III. Partners

Description One of the missions of the Centre for Fine Arts is “to develop and undertake multidisciplinary and integrated cultural programmes which contribute to the European and international image of federal Belgium, the Communities and the Brussels-Capital Region”.

The management contract between the Belgian state and the Centre also specifies that: “Given the status of Brussels as the capital of Europe, the Company will present projects to the European Commission and the European Parliament which can form the basis for a European cultural activity which will encourage cultural diversity and the mobility of artists and works of art. In this context the Company is seeking a specific collaboration and can conclude the appropriate agreements to this end.»

The Centre for Fine Arts wants to grow into a breeding ground for tomorrow’s cultural Europe by stimulating international initiatives, supporting artistic developments in Belgium and being open to other cultures.

The co-productions of the two-yearly Europalia festival fit perfectly into this mission. Between successive Europalia festivals, as in 2004, the Centre seeks to develop other major international projects so as to optimally fulfil the above-mentioned missions.

Prospecting takes the form of contacts with foreign representative offices in Belgium and direct contacts with potential partners abroad. Successive Council of the European Union presidencies and other elements of EU daily life have given rise to a number of international activities at the Centre for Fine Arts.

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IV IV. V Services

Marketing and communication

Mission

IV. IV V Services

The Marketing and Communication Department is tasked with communicating the entire BOZAR artistic project, with product marketing and promotion of all public audience products (tickets, catering, shop, etc.), positioning the institute as an arts centre, and the BOZAR cultural brand (corporate communication), as well as audience development (individual and group visits). This work has Brussels, national, and inter international dimensions.

Organisation The department consists of 5 units: — general publications (BOZAR MAGAZINE, website, e-newsletter, flyers, leaflets, brochures, posters) — music publications (responsible for programme booklets) — press office — audience development — graphic studio and webmaster.

organised by third parties at the Centre for Fine Arts.

The website has evolved from an average 1,000 visitors a day to 2,700 visitors a day, with an average visit lasting 4.8 minutes (figures at 31 December 2004). The electronic newsletter or e-zine is sent to 2,981 French-speaking and 2,456 Dutch-speaking addresses (figures as of 1 March 2005). It should be noted that the Centre for Fine Arts opt in regulations. Frequency is kept intentionally low (maxi(maxi strictly follows the new «opt-in» mum two mailings a month) in order not to debase this medium.

During summer 2004 work began on developing a new website, with a similar house style and graphic presentation to the first BOZAR site, but with digital functionalities that better correspond to the objectives set.

Three annual brochures were published in 2004. These were the large-format general season brochure presenting the programme for all disciplines, a separate music brochure, and an annual overview of the exhibition programme. A separate season’s brochure with the existing and special programming for primary and secondary schools was also published and disseminated by direct mail.

Music publications This team has the task of producing programme brochures for concerts and certain other events (e.g., dance, symposia).

The music publication team also helps with the production of the annual BOZAR MUSIC brochure and translations for the department.

General publications In 2004 five editions of the bi-monthly BOZAR MAGAZINE were published. In mid2004 this diary of events underwent a facelift, intended to further improve the legibility and the presentation of each discipline. Space was also made for multidisciplinary proj- The press office ects at the start of the diary, and an evaluation was carried out of how to give increased 1. The team A number of measures were taken to refocus this department on its core tasks. Contacts visibility to longer-running projects (e.g., by spreading coverage over two editions).

In addition to the latest information (promotion flashes, information on changes, can- with the press were also put on a sounder basis by removing the link between informacellations, forthcoming events, etc.), the website contains the complete BOZAR pro- tion publication and advertising. gramming with content presentation for each event and diary information for events

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A first major step was the creation of a press website, offering clear added value for to counter the inevitable drop in visitor numbers. We need here to look more actively at the press, but also significantly boosting efficiency in the department. Journalists reg- the scheduling and organising of events and initiatives with news value in the grey zone istered with the site can use a password to gather necessary information, such as sets of between PR and artistic reporting. press photos, press files, and other useful information. This site – a subsite of the parent site www.bozar.be – will receive additional content in 2005 and will also be integrated Audience development into the activities database project.

The audience development unit is responsible for promoting the different disciplines and their programmes and for active prospecting towards their target groups.

An agreement started on 1 September 2004 with a clipping agency, the Centre now has a full picture of the media echoes of each press action, report, or meeting, at both At their disposal they have the full range of means of communication and promotional national and international level (for neighbouring countries and a selection of key Eu- resources: publications, e-news, website, mailings, telemarketing, special activities like ropean countries). Media reports are also picked off the Internet in this way. These teacher days, Markant day, Brussels associations day and fairs/events organised by third measures have made it possible to once again scan the entire audiovisual and printed parties at the Centre and elsewhere (Heritage Day, Open Monuments Day, Art BrusBelgian media. Major investments have also been made in mapping out the interna- sels, Flemish Teaching Days, Students Day, Cultural Communication Day, Klara in het tional press landscape. The first objective is to strengthen the image of the Centre for Paleis, tourist and trade fairs in Berlin and London, etc. ).

Fine Arts as a centre for exhibitions vis-à-vis international cultural centres and artists and also – and in particular during the autumn of 2004 – to encourage culture lovers A separate organ was created for distributing all the publications and promotion tools from neighbouring countries to visit our exhibitions. for the above events, as well as to partners and via posters and purchased brochures.

Their responsibilities also include the constantly changing signing in and around the The Centre worked actively to inform the written lifestyle press and family ma- building and coordinating the Centre’s presence at fairs and workshops, as well as the gazines about the exhibitions and the activities organised by the BOZAR STUDIOS entire media planning (production of radio spots and advertisements). department, with good results. Music and exhibitions were covered by the national and Brussels newspapers. We note also increasing interest from local newspapers.

1. MUSIC The head of the audience development unit is assisted in preparing room plans, coding After the summer work began on positioning the Centre as a «leader of opinion» with of specified quotas, and managing VIP and press tickets. The operation of this service the Centre expressing its opinions, being consulted, or presented as an expert in topics remained stable and largely unchanged in 2004, though a number of procedures were relating to cultural participation, art, subsidies, and social issues. This strategy is being developed for the management of seats reserved for the personnel. maintained in 2005.

Although individual season ticket subscribers and visitors remain the main target group; 2. Press conferences and meetings the Centre also works with groups, companies, and social services, producing an addiThe annual press conference held on 18 March 2004 announced a second phase for tional EUR 75,000 of business. It should be noted that the efforts directed at schools by the BOZAR cultural brand with additional artistic content for the image launched in the persons responsible for the audience development of the STUDIOS also produce a significant added value for music with formulae like “Klassiek met Klasse/Le Classique, 2003. c’est classe (Classical with Class)” and «First-Class Concerts».

For the BOZAR EXPO department, press conferences were organised on the morning of each preview, with the aim of having press reviews published on the same evening or The new 2004-2005 season and the beginning of season ticket sales in March was annext day and producing an initial wave of public interest. For the Karel Appel: «Under nounced with posters and radio spots and in the daily press.

Way» exhibition an initial press meeting was organised in May in the presence of the curator, Rudi Fuchs, and Karel Appel in Amsterdam. Since autumn 2004, thanks to the To mark the 75th anniversary a postcard was issued with a competition question («Hall extended press relations file and more intensive contacts, we have noticed more interest of Fame» concept) and posters were disseminated. The procedure of posting internal from the cultural and tourism press in neighbouring countries. It remains a challenge posters for concerts was maintained: this needs to be reviewed in 2005 in the context – after the first major wave of visitors in the first month – to remobilise the press in order of the building works in the foyer.

Active campaigns were undertaken (posters and radio spots) for the concerts by Patti Smith and Sonny Rollins, the Ireland Festival, the Netherlands Festival, and the Turkey Festival. Specific folders and posters are printed for initiatives such as «Music & Poetry» or «Sunday on the Kunstberg/Mont des Arts». Given the increasing number of concerts and the diversification towards world music, jazz, and blues, we also work a lot with flyers and a system of distribution by students in Brussels and to cultural centres and meeting places in other cities.

IV. IV V Services

3. THEATRE/DANCE/LITERATURE/CINEMA Theatre/dance/literature For Theater op de middag and Literatuur op de middag two folders were published, each covering half a year.

For the Foi and NDT/Bob Wilson dance presentations the Centre worked with an intensive poster campaign, radio spots, direct mail, a widely distributed leaflet, and advertisements.

A flyer was produced for the anniversary party of the Dutch group The Ex (literature, 2. EXPO music, film).

For each «blockbuster» exhibition – Appel, Turkey, Rimbaud, Symbolism, and Arp – a Cinema detailed promotion plan was prepared as a function of the exchange agreements with For each Young Film Fans presentation in the large auditorium a leaflet and a poster media and communication partners, and sponsors, depending on the budgets available were produced and radio spots and newspaper inserts were placed. The presence of the internally. film directors Kaurismaki, Kiarostami, and Chéreau was highlighted with posters, radio spots, and advertisements. For the marathon showing of Heimat in December the An initial field of action was the internationalisation of promotion. Intensive coop- Centre produced leaflets, posters, radio spots, and advertisements. eration was begun with the BITC (Brussels International Tourism & Congress), Toerisme Vlaanderen, and the OPT (Office de Promotion du Tourisme Wallonie-Bruxelles) 4. STUDIOS Communication for the STUDIOS projects in the exhibitions is integrated into the in the form of: 1. Organisation of workshops and foreign press conferences (in November and Decem- promotion of the exhibition itself. For the new BOZAR SUNDAYS programme a ber) in the context of the promotion of the 175 years of Belgium and 25 years of fed- separate folder, a press day, posters, radio, and spots were provided. Following a content eralism. and organisational review at the end of 2004, this programme will need to be reposi2. A number of group press trips and individual visits from foreign press representa- tioned in 2005. tives.

3. The Centre for Fine Arts also joined in the Brussels Card formula launched by the The START-formula for under-26-year-olds is promoted by posters, flyers, and comBITC. munication through specific youth channels (Student Welcome Pack, SNCB/NMBS 4. An agreement with Thalys for postering on the Brussels-Paris rail line and with the GO PASS, Randstad, etc.). Communication for schools is undertaken mostly via direct Belgian national railway company for combined day trip/exhibition tickets. mail (schools brochure) and via partners like Klasse, as well as through education fairs and days.

A second area of activities was group reservations, involving both communication to these target groups and handling the growing number of reservation enquiries from as- 5. DISTRIBUTION AND EVENTS sociations and schools. The necessary adaptations to the ticketing system and a group A special task force was created for distribution of all the publications and promotion visit reservation facility on the website have given the department the necessary space instruments for the above events, but also to partners and via the paid poster and foldto further digitise and optimise the registration process. At the end of 2004 it was de- er circuits. Their responsibilities also include the constantly changing signing in and cided to introduce prepayment for group visits, in order to minimise waiting times and around the building and coordinating the Centre’s presence at marts and workshops, as late starting of guided tours. well as the entire media planning (production of radio spots and advertisements).

6. AUDIENCE MAPPING In order to map out the great diversity and geographical origins of visitors and measure the effectiveness of promotional initiatives (also vis-à-vis partners like BITC, Toerisme Vlaanderen, and OPT), visitor surveying is being continued and extended. For exhibitions all group leaders are canvassed for their opinions of the services provided

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and the quality of the guided tours in particular. Individual visitors are addressed directly and questioned by survey staff.

These analyses tell us that: — an average visit by two people to an exhibition lasts 1.5 hours; — 90% of tickets are bought on the day itself at the ticket desk; — half of the visitors prefer modern art or historical exhibitions; — information and promotion reaches them mainly via newspapers and magazines, posters, folders, and the BOZAR MAGAZINE. Radio and TV are less important here.

For foreigners newspapers and magazines are important, but «word of mouth» takes third place; — the exhibitions are reaching a new public: for a quarter of visitors in autumn 2004 this was their first visit; for foreigners the number was 61%; — the level of satisfaction is high: 94% satisfied or very satisfied; — the exhibition public is also interested in other disciplines: in particular exhibition+music and exhibition+theatre.

Demographic information:

45 % male

41 % aged 46-60 20 % > 60

55 % female

20 % other 19 % aged 36-45

9 % other 31 % other 54 % Dutch-speaking

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69 % resident in Belgium

37 % French-speaking

17 % other 36 % with Brussels addresses

1 % other 43 % by public transport

9 % Leuven 10 % East Flanders 13 % Antwerp 15 % Brabant (both provinces)

20 % are teachers 31 % other 17 % white-collar workers 7 % students 11 % liberal professions 14 % pensioners

56 % arrive by car

To give all visitors a chance to engage in dialogue with the Centre for Fine Arts, a pink Objectives for 2005 «we need your opinion» form and reply boxes are available throughout the building, External aimed at extending the address list and listening to what the public is telling us. An- • Extending the hard core of BOZAR fans with new or insufficiently represented target groups (teens, twenties, young parents, performing-arts lovers, and tourists), through swers are always formulated to these questions, complaints, and suggestions, as they are community initiatives such as interactivity on the website, reformulation of the to all complaints reaching us by other routes.

FRIENDS package, and target group communication.

Active interview surveys of visitors to events in other disciplines – currently very oc- • Defining and positioning of the «BOZAR experience», with, in addition to the artistic casional and sporadic – need to be further extended in 2005; for this the necessary ana- centrepiece, all those services and initiatives that add value to the experience.

• Livening up the subscription ticket packages and coming up with new formulas to inlytical tools and students have to be provided. crease the number of subscribers and find new ways of gaining customer loyalty.

• Continuing to pay attention to our core audiences and mobilising them further as amThe graphic studio and webmaster bassadors for the Centre.

In early 2004 the need for professional management of the technical platform and for coordinating the online provision of content became so acute that the function of full- • Encouraging cross-selling within disciplines («combitickets») and between disciplines («discovery» subscriptions). time webmaster was created and filled.

• Launching new products in combination with the catering and shopping facilities.

This strengthening of the team is a logical step with a view to future increases in online • Building up a relationship database (1-to-1 promotion) and national and international media reach (1 to many). business (in 2004: 11% of total ticket volume) and to supporting the building of an online BOZAR community.

IV IV. V Services

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During summer 2004 phase two of the database project was begun, part 1 of which Internal involved the implementation of the Organon relationship database, which forms the • Further training of department members in their respective fields of activity and polishing up/learning certain functional competences (PC applications, languages, and basis of all audience communication and promotion by letter, e-mail, or telephone. Part 2 adds to this an activities database which will totally replace the current «Agenda» plat- commercial skills). form as of 15 April 2005. This new structure will function as a central information • Continuing to stimulate process-oriented working and consultation. point from which (fully automated in later phases) all print work and the web-site will • Keeping watch on the creative process (sufficient oxygen) in the graphic studio by injecting outside stimuli be fed. This will further streamline the publications process.

• Organising publications and those in charge With this database (relations + activities) and the planned interface to the sales system • Drawing up framework agreements to optimise expenditure on service providers (courier services, printing, posters, translators, and graphic design offices).

(TicketAct), the audience development unit will be in a position to initiate personalised promotional activities and refine its target group communications. For the website this offers the same personalisation advantages. The intention is that in the long term each visitor will be offered an individual homepage with personal preferences and interests upon every visit.

BOZAR TICKETS

Organisation In summer 2004 the box office activities moved to the Ravenstein Gallery entrance, just opposite the main entrance to the Centre for Fine Arts.

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The box office was renamed BOZARTICKETS. The intention is to take advantage of the branding efforts around the BOZAR logo. Since 17 September 2004 the box office activities have been part of the Marketing & Communication Department.

Online ticket sales rose more than 50% in 2004 to over 15,500, with most transactions taking place via the bozar.be website.

For call centre sales, it was decided to install a new telephone management system to increase productivity and flexibility. The old Avaya/Lucent software program was replaced by Vocalcom, the market leader in this segment. This migration is bearing fruit.

Operators now have a genuine management tool and the new programme makes much more flexible programming possible. This latter feature is an absolute must for the Centre for Fine Arts, which wants to further develop its contract ticketing activities.

Box office for third parties Since September 2004 Flagey has entrusted the development and management of its seating plans and advance telephone ticket booking to the Centre for Fine Arts via automatic call diversion and personalised service provision (22,300 tickets sold in the last quarter of 2004).

In spring 2004 almost 7,500 tickets were sold by phone and Internet on behalf of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium for the Khnopff exhibition.

At the end of the year numbered 175/25 passes were designed and issued to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Belgium and the 25th anniversary of federalism in 2005.

Reservation and sales For ticket desk sales the decision was taken – influenced in part by the encouraging results of the 2003 pilot project – to continue to sell individual entry tickets to exhibitions separately in the Rue Royale/Koningstraat and the Horta Hall. Group ticket sales continue to be managed by the main office.

Forms of payment Our customers are increasingly opting to pay cash (45% of the total), even for events with a relatively high entry price.

BOZAR products Of all recently launched BOZAR products (BOZARCARD, BOZARSTART for young people, BOZARFRIENDS, and BOZARGIFT), BOZARGIFT recorded the greatest advance in 2004.

Reception, catering, events

Reception Our reception staff are responsible, at all performances, receptions, and exhibitions, for welcoming the public, ticket checking, cloakroom management, sales of programme booklets, distributing samples connected with the activities of the FUNDING Department, audience safety, etc.

IV. IV V Services

Catering In October 2004 the Centre for Fine Arts signed a licensing contract with the center for Fine Arts Catering, owned by the Choux de Bruxelles and Traiteur Loriers companies.

Following the major infrastructural works, part of the restaurant next to the Horta Hall once again became operational. The design of this temporary restaurant was entrusted to Jan De Cock, a prize-winner in the Young Belgian Painters Awards and an established artist who has already exhibited in top international cultural institutions.

The restaurant is connected to the Horta Hall by three new openings, made with the approval of the Royal Commission for Monuments and Landscapes.

These temporary facilities are, obviously, too small to meet the demand. During the final months of 2004 the pre-design of the second phase of the restaurant facing Rue Baron Hortastraat was completed.

Work has also begun on the bar next to the small auditoria (M, Studio, and Terarken).

This bar has been transformed into an «island» that can serve the various auditoria.

On a test basis a bar for use during intermissions was installed in the Horta hall in the last quarter of 2004. Concert-goers reacted very positively and the licensee has propo-

sed systematically providing an intermission bar in this zone, except on evenings when the Horta Hall is reserved for private events.

Events The new Terarken rooms, which lend themselves particularly well to the organisation of corporate events, were used for the first time in November 2004 for a prestige event.

Since then customers from both the public sector and the private sector have regularly organised events in the new rooms.

Reactions from the business world have been full of praise, in particular for the logistical facilities of the new rooms: the wiring and equipment are excellent, the acoustics are perfect, there is a private parking facility nearby, the rooms are easy to reach for technical equipment suppliers and accessible to caterers.

The «special evening visits to exhibitions» service for companies has reached a professional level in terms of both sales and execution.

The new «private reception in boxes during the intermission» service has been very well received by our business clients.

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V. Behind the scenes 42

Human resources

V V. Behind the scenes

BOZAR MUSIC

BOZAR CINEMA

The Music department, known as BOZAR MUSIC, had a manager, nine employees as of 1 March 2005; together, they prepare and organise over 250 concerts a year. They include a deputy director (since 1 July 2004) and four full-time and five half-time employees.

The activities of BOZAR CINEMA tie in closely with the Centre’s other artistic disciplines. Coordination of this department’s activities is entrusted to one part-time coordinator.

BOZAR EXPO

BOZAR STUDIOS

As of 1 March 2005, the Exhibitions Department, known as BOZAR EXPO consists of an assistant, who is also involved on a part-time basis in organising the activities of BOZAR EXPO Promoters, four full-time coordinators for the exhibitions, and one freelance coordinator, r who currently works one day per week for BOZAR EXPO and organises the photographic exhibitions.

In addition to the coordinator, the production manager and the reservations team, the team was extended in February 2004 with the arrival of two new audience development employees. These were hired to extend the audiences for the various BOZAR STUDIOS activities: groups, schools, young people, and families.

A fifth coordinatorr was taken on on a 10-month temporary basis in November 2004 to coordinate the Ensor to Bosch exhibition, undertaken in cooperation with the vlaamsekunstcollectie.

In August 2004 a half-time employee was recruited as publications manager (catalogues, room texts, audio-guide texts, and visitor guides).

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In November 2004 it was decided to split off the audience development and reservations side of the department from the artistic and content side. The reservations team joined the Call Centre, where the two employees have professional equipment and IT support available to them. The audience development employees were transferred to the Communications Department, more specifically to the «audience development» unit, where they work on expanding the target groups for the other disciplines as well.

BOZAR STUDIOS has welcomed a number of students on placements. Every season 6 placement students work for us. All placement students have a university education.

BOZAR THEATRE DANCE LITERATURE The Theatre, Dance, and Literature Department has two full-time employees and a parttime literature coordinator (2/5). In 2004 they organised some 65 activities.

BOZAR FUNDING In 2004 the department consisted of four people: the Department Manager, an Advertising Manager, a Contract Manager, and a Membership Manager. .

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION The Director of the Marketing and Communication Department is supported by a secretary.

General publications Production of the magazine is fully coordinated by a single editor who also carries out the subediting (on the basis of 3/5 of a full-time job).

Music publications This 4-person team (2 full-time, 2 working 3/5 time) has the task of producing programme booklets for concerts and other selected events (e.g. dance, symposia).

The press office The increased volume of activities and the need for a permanent multilingual point of contact to present the exhibitions to the national and international press led finally in June 2004 to the hiring of a full-time manager for the press office, to join the two existing press officers (1 full-time, 1 working 2/5 time).

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Audience development 1. MUSIC: 2 people full-time This team is responsible, with support from other Communications Department units, for welcoming g guests to the concerts and other performances.

2. EXPO: 1 person full-time A lot of groundwork still needed to be carried out for the exhibitions, in line with the explosive growth of this discipline from 2003 onwards.

A second area of activities was that of group reservations, involving both communication to these target groups and handling the growing number of reservation enquiries from associations and schools.

At the end of 2004 it was decided to introduce prepayment for group visits, in order to minimise waiting times and late starting of guided tours.

3. THEATRE/DANCE/LITERATURE/CINEMA: 1 person half-time STUDIOS: two people half-time Until autumn 2004 there was no one in this department able to provide professional promotional support for these disciplines. With one person doing this on a half-time basis, along with a half-time audience developer for the STUDIOS projects, a new stage has begun in the promotion of these disciplines, and a planned approach is now possible.

After just a few months the effect of these projects is already tangible, with the artistic management now having a central contact point for sales and promotion.

4. MEDIA PLANNING 1 full-time and 1 half-time person are employed in distributing all the publications and promotion instruments for the above events, including to partners and via the paid poster and leaflet circuits. Their responsibilities also include the constantly changing signing in and around the building and coordinating the Centre’s presence at fairs and workshops, as well as the entire media planning (production of radio spots and advertisements).

The graphic studio and webmaster (2 full-time, 2 working 4/5 time) The team of graphic artists has been reduced from 4 to 3, but now has a new full-time employee alongside two existing 4/5 contracts.

V V. Behind the scenes

For the day-to-day operation of the Centre’s own ticket office and ticketing services for other organisations, BOZARTICKETS – including the call centre, ticket offices, and back offices – employed 14 people on a permanent basis during the season – from September to June – supplemented by another 30 or so people on an ad hoc basis.

Reception Our reception staff are responsible, at all performances, receptions, and exhibitions, for welcoming the public, ticket checking, cloakroom management, sales of programme booklets, distributing samples connected with the activities of the FUNDING department, audience safety, etc.

This department has around 70 employees, most of whom work part-time.

The technical department The Technical Department as a whole falls under the responsibility of the departmental manager. The building maintenance, stage arts technology, and exhibition technology departments are headed up by departmental managers.

In early 2004 the need for professional management of the technical platform and for The overall volume of activities of the Technical Department continued to rise in 2004, full owing to three factors: coordinating the online provision of content became so acute that the function of fulltime webmasterr was created and filled. The webmaster looks after the technical im- — The extension of the artistic programme of the BOZAR EXPO department, with in plementation of internet projects and the management of site content in consultation most cases three exhibitions in parallel circuits; with and based on instructions from the promotion managers for each discipline and — the diversification of the performances organised by the Centre’s artistic teams, in the publications team. The webmaster is also responsible for the design of the site, and particular in the fields of drama, dance, literature, and film; is the driving force behind the further extension of existing and new e-marketing and — the large number of building works under way in the Centre, with no less than 17 dife-commerce activities. The graphic design and distribution of the monthly e-zine and ferent sites being managed at the same time. other specific newsletters (announcements of the season) and e-mails, as well as the proBuilding maintenance and minor repairs cessing and analysis of web statistics are included in the webmaster’s job description.

With the increased number of artistic activities and the extensive building works, this department faced a heavier workload, without a corresponding increase in personnel.

Ticketing Starting in the new season and under the new organisational structure (September 2004), the Ticketing Department came under the responsibility of the Director of the Thanks to the team’s flexibility and goodwill and the commitment of the departmental head, the facilities for the public and artists were maintained at a more than adequate Marketing and Communication Department. level right through the year.

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It was also decided during 2004 to carry out a total audit of the maintenance of the technical installations (lifts, heating, air conditioning, control panels, etc.). The aim is to increase productivity from 2005 onwards by appointing an outside contractor, on the basis of detailed specifications, to take charge of all the maintenance work, which is currently carried out by several firms.

Stage technician team Given the increased workload, it was decided to extend the stage technician team by recruiting three young, well-trained assistants.

Recruiting these persons has increased the Centre’s competence in the field of audio and lighting installations.

Exhibition technical team In order to meet demand, the three-person team is constantly calling on maintenance technicians and outside companies.

With the exhibition rooms in constant use – from 2005 onwards this will also apply during the summer – technicians need to be present on site more often and the daily planning needs to be strictly organised.

Security 46

Major efforts were made in 2004 to increase security in the Centre for Fine Arts. The dispatching centre groups all alarm signals (fire, intrusion, video-surveillance cameras, etc.) in the various parts of the building. This electronic surveillance will gradually be extended to the entire building. The dispatching department is operated on a 24/7 basis with permanent monitoring provided by the Securis firm.

As well as introducing the new dispatching department, two other initiatives were also taken in 2004. The first concerned the strict application of access control for non-spectators, with the requirement to visibly wear a badge with photo. The second concerned fire safety, for which staff training has been optimised.

Building works and Masterplan in 2004 The Masterplan which has been gradually developed from May 2003 onwards has made it possible to define a strategy for the evolution of the building, to enable it to meet the growing expectations and needs of both artists and the public. This large-scale study would not have been possible without the financial assistance of the Bernheim Foundation.

During 2004 no less than 17 different worksites began, in line with the Masterplan.

The most important of these are:

Activities database In 2004 the analysis and the functional description of the activities database was successfully completed. This database provides a complete overview of all the artistic acti1. the occupation of the new multi-purpose rooms in the Rue Ravensteinstraat and the vities of the Centre for Fine Arts, and provides a response to the Palace’s communicarestructuring of the Rue Terarkenstraat entrance. tion needs: website, magazine, and other publications.

Website 2. introducing a central dispatching unit and a secured IT room; Intensive efforts went into the new version 2 website, due to come into operation in June 2005. This is fed largely from the activities database. Following a selection proce3. dismantling the BOZARSHOP, thereby restoring the Council Chamber to its origi- dure, development of the new version was entrusted to the TenTwelve company. nal size; 4. restoring the corridors of the Henry Le Boeuf Hall, allowing a free exhibition circuit to be set up there from autumn onwards;

Accounting and management control

5. removing the concrete slab covering the light shaft next to foyers 2 and 3.

In 2004 the modernisation of the accounting department and management control continued apace.

The ICT team In order to be in a position to gradually upgrade the ICT department, it was decided in 2004 to strengthen the team with external service suppliers who are well acquainted with the Centre for Fine Arts and its technical complexity.

V V. Behind the scenes

Investment The gradual upgrading of the IT equipment continued in 2004. The least effective equipment was replaced. In 2004 increasing activity required the replacement of the mail server and the ticketing server. Further replacements are planned for 2005.

In summer the software programme was also replaced in the reservation office call centre, with a technical platform that can be more easily programmed by the Centre’s own computer staff. These made possible an expansion of contract ticketing activity.

Databases Contact database The Contact Database, with over 70,000 contact addresses, was completed in 2004.

This integrated database contains all the relations of the former parastatal institution, the Philharmonic Society, the Exhibitions Society, and the Palais non-profit organisation. This powerful instrument is used intensively to search for contact data, to generate letters and mailings, and to organise telemarketing campaigns.

At the start of the financial year the new Logistics IT platform was introduced in all departments of the Centre for Fine Arts. The new management system allows budgets to be drawn up for each department, with the recording of all financial commitments to third parties (supplier order notes, contracts with artists, hiring fees, etc.) and permits in-depth management control. Provision has been made right from the programming phase for this tool to manage the administrative side of procedures and of dealing with the public, and to avoid double booking.

All the Centre’s employees are now familiar with the use of this new management tool.

Following the audit of the ticket office activities by the auditors, a number of measures were taken in summer 2004 to tighten control over this activity. Cash control of the ticket office and the settling up per performance are now, since summer 2004, and in line with the audit report, entrusted to the financial management. Finally, the separate accounting of the ticket office was fully developed. This bookkeeping is now coordinated with that of the Centre for Fine Arts.

The financial management is currently investigating whether the internal organisation and working methods are suitably adapted to the new tools and to the various needs of the Centre’s internal and external customers (financial management, general management, subsidy department, artistic production departments, Belgian Government Court of Audit, college of auditors, government commissioners, audit committee, board of directors, etc.).

The internal audit, also covers those activities that the Centre’s accounting department

47

carries out for third parties (Philharmonic Society, the Kunstberg/Mont des Arts nonprofit organisation, European Concert Hall Organisation, etc.).

At the same time various procedures were developed in 2004 to ensure that both the procedures for dealing with the public and the accounting evaluation rules approved by the board of directors are adhered to by all departments of the Centre for Fine Arts.

48

Planning, auditorium use

In 2004 a total of 9,380 activities(2) took place, including 3,250 public activities

Performances per day of the week Monday is the traditional closing day for most cultural institutions and is therefore the day with the lowest potential.

Occupancy per auditorium/room Henry Le Boeuf Hall Occupancy levels in the Henry Le Boeuf Hall have risen slightly (7% higher than in previous years). Own productions represented 52% of the public activities and 77% of the rehearsals.

V V. Behind the scenes

Chamber Music Room The main users of this auditorium are the ADAC, Exploration du Monde, Bronks Jeugdtheater Brussel, and BOZAR THEATRE DANCE LITERATURE, which also organises all its Tuesday “Theater op de Middag” activities there.

Little Theatre and Studio The main user of these auditoria is the Rideau de Bruxelles, which presents its plays here throughout the season. The rehearsals produce extra days’ occupancy.

Demand for the Little Theatre was higher than in previous years, whilst occupancy of the Studio declined. This is due mainly to the fact that the Rideau de Bruxelles is making more balanced use of both auditoria, whilst in previous years activities were concentrated more on the Studio.

Sunday’s good score compared with the other days of the week is due to the fact that a concert takes place every Sunday morning at 11.00. These concerts are seldom attended by more than 150 people. In most cases the audience is seated on the stage.

The good scores for Fridays and Saturdays obviously come as no surprise.

Performances and occupancy per month The traditionally high-scoring months are October, November, February, March, and May. The warmest periods coincide largely with the school holidays and with the revival of activities in September and January.

Activities during the summer months consist mainly of workshops for children and play rehearsals.

The busiest periods still offer the only development potential for the Henry Le Boeuf Hall; organisers are, however, hesitant about organising major concerts at these times.

(2) Public activity: any activity where the members of the public are present and are accompanied by Centre for Fine Arts reception staff. This can be an exhibition opening day, a private evening visit to an exhibition, an artistic activity with an audience (concert, play, dance, literature, film, etc.), a reception, lecture, meeting or debate, a concert introduction, an open door day, a visit of the building, a private preview an exhibition. Non-public activities: rehearsals, erecting and dismantling of exhibitions, CD, TV and radio recordings, film recordings, instrument tuning sessions, auditions, meetings.

49

VI. Corporate Governance

50

Legal status

Legal status

Company capital

The Centre for the Fine Arts, which was founded on 4 April 1922 as a non-profit orga- At the time of the foundation of the limited liability company the company capital was nisation and was converted in 1984 to a public utility institution, has since 1 January set at EUR 17,500,000 plus an issue premium of EUR 109,106.34. This capital was been a limited public law company with a social purpose(3). represented by 17,500 non-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 2004 is therefore the third financial year of the new Centre for Fine Arts. company with any liquidity.

With the change of status the Centre for Fine Arts’ company goals have been considerably extended, making it a leading cultural player in the fields of music, exhibitions, dance, theatre, literature, film, architecture, etc.

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 Company subscribed a capital increase of EUR 5 In this third financial year, the company has continued to carry out the two main mis- million, in exchange for 6,481 registered non-par shares. sions assigned to it under its management contract: managing the more than 30,000 m2 building – a unique construction by Victor Horta – and developing a multidisciplinary The capital now amounts to EUR 22,500,000, represented by 23,981 shares. cultural policy worthy of Brussels, and with an unmistakeable international influence.

VI. Corporate Governance

The Centre for Fine Arts is one of the three federal cultural institutions(4) alongside the Belgian National Orchestra and the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg/Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.

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. Since 21 July 2003 this has been the Prime Minister; — the Federal Participation Company owns 6,481 shares (27%).

(3) Law of 7 May 1999 establishing the Centre for Fine Arts in the form of a limited public law company with a social purpose and its implementation decrees of 19 December 2001.

(4) Article 150 of the programme law of 8 April 2003 and Article 1.1. of the Royal Decree of 21 July 2003.

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The Board of Directors The Board of Directors of the Centre for Fine Arts is comprised of an equal number of Dutch- and French-speaking members. The directors, chairperson, and vice-chairperson 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, and the other half for three years. Since then two directors have resigned, to be replaced by the 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 21 December 2004. From now on all directors have six-year terms, half of them expiring on 31 December 2007 and the other half on 31 December 2010.

The Board of Directors consists of the 12 voting members: Chairman Mr Etienne 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 Henri Ingberg Ms Anne Monseu Ms Geertrui Windels Ms Marleen Van Waeyenberge Ms Isabelle Verhaegen.

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Two non-voting non voting directors have also been appointed: Mr Marc Yves Blanpain and Ms Ma Marc-Yves Marie-Paule Quix.

Board meetings are also attended by the Director-general, the Operations Director, the Secretary-general, who acts as secretary to the board, and the three government commissioners.

In 2004 the board met seven times. The board discussed the company’s financial situation (2004 and 2005 budgets, approval of the financial statements for 2003, development of the financial situation), the cultural programming as proposed by the Director-general, the human resources situation and the organisational structure, the 2003 activities report, the building works, and the Masterplan, the catering licensing con-

tract, and the office lease contract.

The Board tasked 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 Messrs Blanpain, Courtin, Didden, 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 to 31 December 2007, renewable once. He is tasked with the day-to-day management of the company, assisted by an Executive Committee, which he chairs.

The three other members of the Executive Committee were appointed by the Board of Directors at the start of 2002 for six-year terms.

cultural institutes: they are Mr Marc Boeykens and Mr Renaud Bellen, appointed by Royal Decree of 31 March 2004, following the coming into effect of the programme law of 8 April 2003 strengthening the control of the federal cultural institutions.

The third government commissioner is proposed by the Budget 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 on an advisory and non-voting basis. 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 accounts, and the regular nature of the transactions that are required to be reported in the annual accounts is entrusted to a college of four auditors.

Two auditors are appointed by the general meeting from among members, either natural or The Secretary-general acts as secretary to the Executive Committee. In 2004 the Exe- legal persons, of the Belgian Institute of Company Auditors. At the extraordinary general cutive Committee met ten times. The committee can invite advisers or heads of de- meeting of 2 July 2002 the following two auditors were appointed: partment to its meetings. The committee discusses cultural and artistic projects and — T.C.L.M.-Toelen, Cats, Morlie & Co CVBA, legally represented by Mr Jean-François Cats; questions connected with day-to-day management.

— KPMG BCV, legally represented by Mr William Van Aerde.

Finally there is a weekly meeting of the «Management Team», consisting of the department heads of the different activities in the Centre for Fine Arts, in order to coordinate Two auditors are appointed by the Court of Audit. By letter of 20 March 2002, Mr W. Durnazy, the first chairman of the Court of Audit informed the Centre for Fine Arts that these activities. the following persons had been appointed as members of the College of Auditors: — Mr Jan Debucquoy, adviser; — Mr Franz Wascotte, clerk.

VI. Corporate Governance

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; since July 2003 this has been the Prime Minister; — the Budget Minister.

This supervision is undertaken via three government commissioners, all appointed by the King.

Two government commissioners, one French-speaking and one Dutch-speaking, are proposed by the Prime Minister, who has been given tutelary authority over the federal

53

The auditors are appointed for renewable four-yearr terms, running until the 2006 statutory general meeting.

As in 2002 and 2003, the college of auditors approved the annual accounts for the year ending 31 December 2004 without qualifications. Its report does, however, include an explanatory paragraph concerning the delay in closing the 2004 annual accounts. In this paragraph, which in no way affects the unqualified approval, the college encourages the Centre to reorganise its accounting, which is it currently doing.

The management contract The Centre for Fine Arts’s five-year management contract with the Belgian state was concluded on 18 November 2002 and ratified by Royal Decree of 2 December 2002. It came into force on 21 December 2002, the date of its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.

This management contract governs the following matters, required by law: — the modalities of carrying out the company’s public service mission, more specifically providing multidisciplinary, integrated cultural programming that contributes to the European and international image of federal Belgium, the Communities, and the Brussels-Capital Region; — the arrangements concerning the building: on the one hand its management and maintenance, financed by the Centre for Fine Arts, and on the other the major repair and renovation works 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 for 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 democratisation and to fulfil a model function at the cultural, artistic, professional, and technical levels. The contract provides, however, 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. We would point out that the federal state has done everything possible to achieve this goal in 2004, as a result of which the financial year ended in balance.

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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 Etienne Davignon, it is composed of the following twelve members: six representing management and six representing the personnel (with six substitutes).

In 2004 the joint committee met seven times. At these meetings it discussed, inter alia: — the appointment of a prevention adviser; — hospitalisation insurance and group insurance;

— the harmonisation of personnel status; — the volunteers — the work of the prevention and protection at work sub-committee; — the 2005 budget; — the linguistic framework — the Employment, Labour, and Social Consultation inspection; — time off work.

The joint committee regularly examined the draft coordinated text of the employment regulations for statutory and contractual staff. It has set up a technical committee from among its members to examine this matter. It has also set up a working group to examine the question of evening staff.

VI. Corporate Governance

55

VII. Finances

56

Financial report

Budget 2004 2004 was Centre for Fine Arts’s third financial year as a limited public law company with a social purpose.

The budget for the 2004 financial year was established by the board of directors at its 13 February 2004 meeting. The budget as submitted was in balance for the first time.

Due to the accumulated losses of the first two financial years – due to the structural underfinancing by the federal state of the operating costs of the Centre for Fine Arts – a funding appropriation of EUR 7.7 million was planned for 2004, compared with EUR 4.2 million in 2003.

Accounts for the year ending on 31 December 2004

On 31 December 2004 the balance sheet had a total amount of € 30,038,305.09. The accounts closed with a small loss of € 47,691.32. This amount represents just 0.2% of total expenditure, and is in no way comparable with the losses of EUR 1.7 million and 3.0 million respectively of the first two financial years, 2002 and 2003.

The Centre for Fine Arts received in 2004 a special contribution of EUR 725,000 from the National Lottery and EUR 1,125,000 of drawing rights under the cooperation agreement between the federal state and the Brussels-Capital Region (the “Belirisagreement”), for the financing of the essential renovation works and works needed for respecting the safety regulations in the building.

VII. Finances

57

Prospects for the future

In summary, the accounts look as follows (in thousands of euros): EXPENDITURE — building operating costs — administrative costs — personnel costs — write-downs of assets and bad debts — extraordinary expenses and financial charges Total operating charges — artistic expenditure — communication costs TOTAL EXPENDITURE

1 437 1 476 8 541 952 375 12 781 5 645 1 941

— federal appropriation — cooperation agreement

7 666 460

Total operating income

8 126

— own income (hiring, reclaimed costs, ticket sales, catering) — other income

2 249 415

Total own income

2 664

— ticket sales income — support for artistic productions — sponsoring and patronage — advertising and publications income

3 433 2 732 2 339 1 026

Total production income

9 530 20 320

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LOSS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR

Various elements confirm these prospects. The budget submitted for 2005 is again in balance. Structural solutions have been developed to tackle specific persistent problems.

In this context we would mention three encouraging elements: 1. exceptionally, the federal state granted the Centre for Fine Arts an allocation of EUR 1.7 million for the 2004 budget. This amount will be used in the coming years to tackle the problem of overtime, to increase the resources of the Communication Department, and to improve the profitability of the reception activities;

20 367

INCOME

TOTAL INCOME

Providing that the appropriation from the federal state remains in line with the 2004 figure, the Centre for Fine Arts can look at the future with confidence and maintain its ambitious policy.

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It should be noted that just 64% of operating charges are covered by federal support.

On the other hand, the artistic expenditure is easily covered by the income from ticket sales, sponsoring and patronage, and various support amounts.

2. as planned in the take-over contract signed on 22 March 2002 between the Centre for Fine Arts and the Brussels Philharmonic Society, the Centre for Fine Arts has “drawing rights” on the above company in an amount of EUR 1.2 million on donations received by it between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2004 for financing major musical projects; 3. following on the cooperation agreement between the federal state and the BrusselsCapital Region, the Centre for Fine Arts will in 2005 have the benefit of € 3,000,000 of “drawing rights” for financing new renovation works to the building.

Finally we would mention that, in the framework of the financing of its artistic activities, the Centre for Fine Arts is negotiating with the Flemish, the French-speaking, and the German-speaking Communities on structural support for a period of at least three years.

2

I. Introduction

II. The programme

III. Partners

IV. Services

V. Behind the scenes

VI. Corporate governance

VII. Finances

I. Introduction

3

II. The programme

8

III. Partners

28

IV. Services

34

V. Behind the scenes

42

Key figures EXPO Visitor figures : Autumn 2004 Appel Turkey Total visitors

VII. Finances

56

Symbolism

67 018

13 071

200 750 50

120 550 70

300 50

360 82 8 537

636 50 11 684

788

3 545

2 289

Groups in nos. of groups in nos. of individuals Guided tours

632 9 475 648 (7%)

1 205 18 070 1 013 (6%)

77 1 153

185 2 778

274 4 117

Schools in nos. of groups in nos. of individuals

357 5 355

323 4 839

61 908

337 5 059

120 1 802

Advance sales (before 1st opening day) groups (nos. of individuals) schools (nos. of individuals) all categories (nos. of individuals)

Sales of combined tickets

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Spring 2004 Rimbaud

55 223

Protocol preview Public preview Press preview

VI. Corporate Governance

Arp

Catalogues Visitor guides Audioguides

17 756

600 100

8 945 (7%)* 2 392 (4%)*

2 290 (3%)*

13 328

3 636 (12%)* 818 (7%)*

766 (6%)* 5 251 (29%)*

20 335 (31%)*

* calculated on total Ticket Act sales average

VII. Finances

59

BOZAR

ANNUAL

REPORT

2004

Layout: Base Design - Realisation: Comfi & Publishing - www.comfi.be - Photos: phototlibrary BOZAR

CENTRE FOR FINE ARTS, BRUSSELS RAVENSTEINSTREET 23 - 1000 BRUSSEL S WWW.BOZAR.BE TEL. +32(0)2 507 84 44 30

BO ZAR ANNUAL REPORT 2004 PALEIS VOOR SCHONE KUNSTEN, BRUSSEL PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS, BRUXELLES CENTRE FOR FINE ARTS, BRUSSELS