Page 24 - Studio Internatinal - October 1974

Belgium: ties pour les arts ana Kunst en Museum of Fine Arts had an exhibition called requiring extensive knowledge of special subjects
Cultuur. From its beginning in 1928 until the 'Spanish Art of Today' organized by the at entrance and having a minimum age of 18.
death of its first director Robert Giron in 1967, Spanish-Belgian Association with the catalogue One of these - the Ecole Nationale
it was as lively and aesthetically-interesting an financially assisted by Suncomfort Tours, and a Superieure d'Architecture et des Arts Visuels at
exhibition centre as any international art-place: Spanish Board of Tourism, a bank, and a sherry- La Cambre in Brussels - is probably the most
showing Art Nègre in 1928/29; Magritte from agency in Brussels. It was one of the most well-established wide-ranging specialist school
1932/33; Karel Appel in 1953/54; New unmitigatedly awful exhibitions of artsy-culture in Belgium, having been founded in 1926 by
American Painting 1958/59; and Mack, Piene I have ever seen, and I wonder that the museum's Henri van de Velde as a private institution. Now
and Uecker 1962/63. Although it then subsided chief curator could — in the face of his foreword it has departments (or Institutes) of Architecture
(without a director) between 1972/73 and mentioning Spanish artists from Goya to Urbanization, Industrial Design, Experimental
1973/74 it went from fourteen smallish Tapies, none of them in the exhibition — Animated Films, Theatre Design, and Graphic
exhibitions attracting about 42,000 visitors to accept the presence of such stuff in his museum, Design and the Fine ('Monumental') Arts —
11 more 'major' exhibitions attracting over however subsidised through a cultural-accord which in turn has ateliers in serigraphy,
100,000 visitors. And now that Karl Geirlandt agreement. In the other national Royal museum ceramics, typography, engraving, sculpture,
has been named the new director, it will in Antwerp, there was once a real, budgeted painting and 3-D research, textiles, photography,
hopefully regain its position of economically programme of contemporary art exhibitions, theatre design, and stained-glass. In all the
viable adventuresomeness and international with an assistant-curator specially responsible courses there is an impressive range of
respect. The ICC is also committed to art for it, from 1968 until a new chief-curator examination for entrance and exit (after four
exhibition rather than conservation, but its stopped it in 1973 — leaving a paid contemporary years) covering practical and graphic work,
original charter of 1970 specified that it is to contemporary-art curator doing nothing. general culture and scientific studies: for
exhibit contemporary international art. With a How could such a state of affairs come instance, the fifth part of the 'general culture'
building donated by the king and a direct about? Why such a lack of international modern examination for admission to the Institute of
responsibility to (and budget from) the National art, in Belgian museums? I could not imagine Experimental Animated Cinema covers sixteen
Ministry for Netherlandish Culture, it is less that a country proud of its Van Eyck, Van der subjects in the history of film. But within the
dependent on the acceptable aesthetics of Weyden, and Rubens would be insensitive to institute of fine and applied arts in the oldest
private galleries and collectors — but also less the visual arts — or that such a rich country was building of the school, the separate ateliers
flexible in budgeting itself, for it must exist less financially capable of contemporary seem to be individually governed as well as
within standard government structures. Thus international culture than Holland or England. I architecturally self-contained. (and small) — no
during the past three years its budget for first assumed that the problem was educational matter how flexible the students' programme
personnel has risen (unfulfilled) while money — like a lapse in the art-historical training of amongst them. Juried in viva exams are held
for exhibitions (the content of the personnel's curators and administrators making decisions. each year with only one-third of each jury being
work) has reduced to almost half. But in 1973 Such a problem certainly exists: of the three teachers responsible for that year's study, and
— with two young professional staff of amazing Belgian universities where art history is seriously the director of the whole school being present
initiative and energy and only 1,300,000 Fr.B studied, only one (Ghent) offers study in the at every single student's every examination.
(about £13,500) for exhibitions — the ICC twentieth century with the possibility of a thesis I attended the first-year industrial design
presented over 30 exhibitions, 50 concerts, 40 on a modern (dead Belgian) artist; the others end students' presentation of their project-work to
theatre performances, 12 mid-day poetry modern art with the seventeenth century or their jury, and it was a very impressive
readings, and 30 lecture-discussions on topics Impressionism. This is totally different from educational event — not just because the
like ecology and urbanization: all attracting art-historical study in England, Holland, and the students actually did a great deal of work
1,500,000 visitors. It must be one of the most USA where in many universities it is as natural (and not mindlessly), but more because of
lively cultural institutions in Europe — perhaps to study the twentieth as any other century, the character of the examination. For every
too lively for its over-worked directors to and MA and PhD theses on living (and foreign) student received supportive criticism with
exercise personal knowledge and discrimination artists are accepted if not encouraged. There, warmth and humour, no matter how good or
in their exhibitions. But although 'Latin positions in museums and exhibiting institutions bad their work — and from the discussion the
American Art-Systems' guest-directed by Jorge would be sought (and filled) by people director and staff knew not only what the
Glusberg in 1974 presented less good art than educationally structured to see the aesthetics of students were learning but also what (and how
political controversy, there are few youthful the present relative to an art-historical past and critically) the teachers were teaching. So
Europeans who can discuss art-and-politics future; in Belgium, Geirlandt was trained as a although the traditional structure of the school
directly with revolutionary Latin American lawyer and ICC's Bex as an archaeologist. seemed rather confining, the atmosphere betweer
artists: and those from Antwerp had it as a gift. But what about less historical education in students and teachers was very free, which speaks
But what about in the museums — at least the visual arts -- weren't there schools for well for its director, Robert Delevoy.
the national museums? At the two national architecture, design, and the fine arts encouraging RHOK — the Rijkscentrum Hoger
(Royal) museums of Fine Art in Brussels and a public constituting a market (if not a Kunstonderwijs Brussels — is a very different
Antwerp I saw only five works by living structure) for seeing art of a contemporary and proposition, even though it is administratively
foreigners in the permanent collection — Henry international relevance? Not much hope in the on a similar level to La Cambre and its Antwerp
Moore and Louise Nevelson sculptures (Brussels) type of art-education which ex-students (artists) parallel under the ministry of Netherlandish
and isolated works by Julio Le Parc, Gunther of the various Academies of Fine Arts in Culture. Open only since October 1973, by
Uecker, and Carel Visser (Antwerp) — and very Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels described to me January 1974 RHOK had only 33 students and
few good modern Belgian works. (At Antwerp (probably melodramatically) as so old-fashioned its 7 staff members were neither full-time nor
there were two small but excellent Magrittes as almost granting diplomas for progress from more committed to being teachers than
and E.L.T. Mesens shown in the midst of depicting plaster-casts to successfully drawing practising artists in or out of the school. Very
countless — ugh — Constant Permekes, while an from live nudes. But the three art-schools which much the physical and spiritual creation of its
early copy of the Eyckian Ghent Altarpiece I visited were quite different. They were all director Marcel Boon, RHOK is still in the
proudly possessed the wall of another room.) directly under their respective national Ministry process of being converted out of an old
Which is not to say that one never sees art by of Culture rather than departments of factory-building into flowing spaces articulated
living foreign artists in a national museum. education, and two were schools for superior generally into areas (Boon calls them points of
While I was in Brussels in July, the Royal studies — almost like post-graduate schools — animation) where painting, printing, sculpture,
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