BELGIUM
Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Historie, Brussels (Musée du Cinquantenaire) (French/Dutch)
Le Musée possède la plus vaste et la plus importante collection de tapisseries en Belgique. Pendant des siècles, ces oeuvres ont constitué un des principaux produits d'exportation de nos régions.
Les quelque 150 tapisseries que nous possédons ne peuvent toutes être présentées en même temps et, pour des raisons de bonne conservation, celles qui sont exposées alternent tous les deux ans.
Museum of Tapestry and Textile Art, Tournai
Actually Tournai has always been a privileged place for tapestry, especially in the XVth century, which was the golden age of tapestry. At that time, more than 200 tapestry weavers used to work in the town workshops and the produced works were exported in all Europe.
The Museum of Tapestry and Textile Arts, inaugurated in June 1990, is located in a former mansion house in neo-classic style designed by the talented architect Bruno RENARD. This new museum is not only an exhibition hall but also a place where tapestry weavers make tapestries or restore them. There is also a textile art research centre.
Museum of Tapestries, Oudenaarde
The tapestry industry of Oudenaarde flourished between the 15th and the 18th century. For more than 300 years, it was the city’s most important branch of industry and it brought wealth. The tapestries were sold all over the world.
The city is best known for its decorative greenery or “verdures” with green, blue, brown and yellow as main colours. However, other kinds were also woven in Oudenaarde. The Bible, ancient history or mythology are subjects used for these figurative series. Others representing pastoral scenes were also an enormous success.
The famous Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon put more than five hundred works just twenty minutes outside of Brussels, in the farm of the castle of La Hulpe. This charming and characteristic building in the middle of the marvellous Solvay Park is home to more than forty years of creation.
Watercolours, engravings, posters and sculptures are presented in an original and lively setting, creating a dialogue between the works of art and the poetic place that houses them. Music, films and optical effects enliven the route. The result is a strong, magical and astonishing exhibition.