Exhibitions

Echoes of Art Deco

From November 13th, 2024 to May 25th, 2025

In the frame of the centenary commemoration of Art Deco in 2025, the Boghossian Foundation is presenting a thematic exhibition on this key movement in Brussels.

The term Art Deco refers to the Exposition internationale des Arts décoratifs et industriels modernes, held in Paris in 1925, which provided a unique opportunity for architects and the public to immerse themselves in this fresh, innovative spirit.

Echoes of Art Deco invites visitors to explore the iconic architecture of the Villa Empain, a paragon of Art Deco with an eventful past. Set against the lively musical backdrop of the era, the exhibition offers an immersive experience into the lifestyle of the Roaring Twenties.

Art Deco encompasses not only architecture but also the decorative arts. Furniture takes centre stage in a scenography that recreates the intimate atmosphere of a private residence. Drawings, ceramics, woodwork and ironwork transport visitors to a time oriented towards modernity, technical progress, and soon, the leisure society. Stained glass art, a privileged witness to stylistic evolution, is highlighted by an exceptional collection of 25 original pieces.

Cinémas Art Déco

From January 27th to May 11th, 2025

From the end of the 1920s, cinemas were the meeting point between cinema and architecture, thanks to the advent of Art Deco. The needs of cinema operators in terms of volume, acoustics and decor for sound cinema, as well as the desire for comfort and prestige, were matched by the innovative construction techniques and aesthetics of Art Deco. The result is an architecture of dreams, inside and out.

Visitors will enter this magical world through written and visual evocations of the great 'first exclusive' city-centre cinemas of the period, such as the Plaza, the Métropole, the Eldorado, the Variétés and the Cinéma des Galeries.

Period images will resonate with contemporary photographs by Marie-Françoise Plissart taken for the book Cinémas de Bruxelles by Isabel Biver & Marie-Françoise Plissart (2020, CFC-Editions) and those by Joan Bracco.

This period can be seen and experienced through the voices and quotes of spectators, notably through the Cinémas de Bruxelles augmentés installation by Christian Châtel, Christl Lidl and Isabel Biver, where audiences will be able to immerse themselves in an immersive device to see and hear testimonies illustrating nine major Brussels cinemas.