The Archives of the City of Brussels on display

Bernard van Orley. Brussels and the Renaissance

Bernard van Orley was one of the pivotal figures of the Renaissance in the Low Countries. BOZAR and other prominent Belgian institutions are teaming up for the first major monographic exhibition devoted to this 16th century artist. Van Orley was a painter at the court of Margaret of Austria and Mary of Hungary and was inundated with commissions. As a young man he was already at the head of one of the biggest workshops of his time. He painted religious subjects and also designed wall tapestries and stained glass windows. In this exhibition special attention is paid to his portraits that place him at the centre of an important network of political advisors, influential clergymen and humanist thinkers. His work was in constant dialogue with that of contemporaries such as Albrecht Dürer and Raphael. 

From all over the world works by Van Orley will travel back to the place where they were once created, to be reunited in one historic exhibition. A unique opportunity to (re)discover this Brussels master.

Among the documents on display you will find pieces kept by the Archives of the City of Brussels, lent for the occasion.

These pieces are from the epitaph of Saint-Géry church and relate to the tomb of Van Orley 

This exhibition is to be seen from February 20th till May 26th 2019 at BOZAR.

Fernand Khnopff. Le maître de l’énigme

At once painter, illustrator, engraver and sculptor, Fernand Khnopff, born in Grembergen (Termonde) on September 12th 1858 and passed away in Brussels on November 21st 1921, is considered one of the great representatives of the symbolism.

As rare artist, the master of Belgian symbolism has not had a retrospective in Paris for nearly forty years.

The exhibition " Fernand Khnopff. Le maître de l'énigme" features about 100 iconic pieces of the artist’s complex aesthetics. It includes documents, kept by the Archives of the City of Brussels, on loan for the occasion.

This exhibition is to be seen from December 11th 2018 till March 17th 2019 at the  Petit Palais in Paris.

Kids Menu. A great story of the little eaters

The birth of a child remains an incredible miracle of nature. But after ? Unlike in the animal world, where instinct predominates, humankind has continually questioned what has been best for feeding children.

From the earliest times, adapted containers have been used to feed babies. But what did they drink? And why are children so fond of sweets and fast food today? Is it really essential for their growth?

Let yourself be surprised by the great story of feeding our little eaters!

Among the documents on display you will find many pieces kept by the Archives of the City of Brussels, lent for the occasion.

Extension to November 30 2019 at the Brussels Museum of the Mill and Food. (PDF, 1.94 MB)

Under the covering of the Senne by BXL Confidential

The Archives of the City of Brussels have provided documents for an educational report produced by BXL Confidential.

"Do you like Brussels? Do you sometimes wonder about the name of a street of the meaning of a monument? You are in the right place! Thanks to its author Frédéric Goldschmidt, Bxl Confidential reveals the outlines and details of Brussels history through the names of the places you see every day"

The episode we are talking about here, BXI CONFIDENTIAL #4 | Under the covering of the Senne, looks at the history of a well-known waterway, the Senne.

Some of our archives are given pride of place in this report.

Gender@war 1914-1918: Men and women at war

11am on 11 November 1918: the Armistice was declared. The crowds celebrated and applauded the end of the war. For the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, La Fonderie presents Gender@war 1914-1918, an exhibition starting on 6 May designed by CARHIF that will feature original items.

These items include small treasures from the Archives of the City of Brussels collections.

They comprise three notebooks from Germaine Lartigue's war journal (Journal of our impressions during the war).

We selected several extracts from the first volume (26.06.1914 to 23.09.1914).

This is a unique document and comes from a series of 11 bound notebooks that form the hand-written journal produced in Brussels by Germaine Lartigue (Ixelles 1896-?), daughter of Lieutenant-General Emile Lartigue (Brussels 1868-1943), during the First World War, from 26 June 1914 to 3 February 1919.    

It is a wonderful testimony to its time and contains almost daily notes, as well as occasional annexes containing additional information (transcriptions of press articles, extracts of reports, etc.).

The exhibition is open from Sunday 6 May to Sunday 21 October 2018 in the La Fonderie buildings.

Enjoy your visit.

Giants !

From 17 May 2018, the Centre Albert Marinus is dedicating an exhibition to the gigantic, terrifying or well-meaning beings that have featured in our imaginations since ancient times. According to folklorist Albert Marinus, processions of giants express the need to translate our ideas and feelings into reality. In our regions (the Netherlands), the archives testify to the existence of giants throughout the area in the 15th century: Goliath, the horse Bayard (with the four Aymon sons) and Saint George confronting the Dragon. This exhibition reveals the many facets of these characters and biblical and legendary heroes who are much more daunting than common mortals.

The documents on display include a number of items held by the Archives of the City of Brussels and on loan for the occasion.

The exhibition is open from 17 May to 2 September 2018 in the remains of the  Palais du Coudenberg, the former Brussels residence of Emperor Charles V.