Mon. June 5, 7:00PM
Who cares: beyond art institutions in Brussels
A grassroots example of how collectors can be a new driving force in the art world. With Olivier Gevart, collector and Eté 78 founder, and Dirk Snauwaert, director of WIELS
Beyond the mere accumulation of artworks, some collectors are starting initiatives aiming at supporting artistic creation, bringing about a new dynamic in the art world.
How are the collectors committing towards the artistic creation?
Public institutions are not the sole driving force behind the contemporary creation in Brussels. Galleries and maybe more surprisingly, collectors, play an important role in the dynamics of the Belgian art scene.
One of the most visible private initiatives are the several art foundations existing in Brussels, each of them having very distinctive spaces and programs. Other collectors have taken on the unusual role of catalyzers for emerging artists and independent collectors, such as the independent space Eté 78 ran by Olivier Gevart.
Initiatives from private collectors are taking new forms and are sprouting around Belgium and abroad, offering a new support to artists and contemporary creation through residency programs, experimentations, commissions, exchange, and liaising, amongst other undertakings.
If art is inherently political, does collecting art also carry political implications? And if it does, how are collectors addressing this and collaborating with public institutions?
Join the conversation on June 5 and hear about how collectors participate in the strengthening of the artistic ramifications.
Timing :
- 18 :30 > Welcome
- 19 :00 – 20:00 > Conference and Q&A
- 20 :00 > End
How are the collectors committing towards the artistic creation?
Public institutions are not the sole driving force behind the contemporary creation in Brussels. Galleries and maybe more surprisingly, collectors, play an important role in the dynamics of the Belgian art scene.
One of the most visible private initiatives are the several art foundations existing in Brussels, each of them having very distinctive spaces and programs. Other collectors have taken on the unusual role of catalyzers for emerging artists and independent collectors, such as the independent space Eté 78 ran by Olivier Gevart.
Initiatives from private collectors are taking new forms and are sprouting around Belgium and abroad, offering a new support to artists and contemporary creation through residency programs, experimentations, commissions, exchange, and liaising, amongst other undertakings.
If art is inherently political, does collecting art also carry political implications? And if it does, how are collectors addressing this and collaborating with public institutions?
Join the conversation on June 5 and hear about how collectors participate in the strengthening of the artistic ramifications.
Timing :
- 18 :30 > Welcome
- 19 :00 – 20:00 > Conference and Q&A
- 20 :00 > End
speaker
Olivier Gevart
Olivier Gevart is a collector and the founder and curator of Eté 78, a space for creation, production, rehearsal, performance, exchange and discovery that opened in 2014 in Brussels. Eté 78 is a private, philanthropic, non-commercial art space that organises exhibitions, shorter events, residencies and editorial projects on the fringe of institutional and gallery circuits. They work with artists over a long period of time, favouring content and sharing with the artists, the works and all the public, informed or not.
speaker
Dirk Snauwaert
Dirk Snauwaert is founding and artistic director of WIELS in Brussels. Before that, he was co-artistic director of the Institut d’Art Contemporain in Villeurbanne, where he programmed exhibitions and developed the FRAC Rhône-Alpes collection. He was director of the Kunstverein München from 1996 to 2001. From 1989 to 1995, he was curator of contemporary art at the Exhibitions Association of the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels (now BOZAR). He regularly teaches and publishes on art and visual culture.
