The Flemish research centre for the arts in the Burgundian Netherlands

The Flemish research centre for the arts in the Burgundian Netherlands was established in 2010 as an initiative of the Groeninge Museum in Bruges and the Flemish Art Collection. Since 2015, the Flemish research is part of the Kenniscentrum vzw, a cultural heritage not-for-profit organisation under the auspices of the City of Bruges. The centre's mission is to stimulate research on the art of the 15th and 16th-century Burgundian Netherlands and disseminate this research on an international level. The Research centre receives subsidies from the Flemish government within the purview of the cultural heritage decree as a consequence of the acknowledgment of the Groeninge Museum as an accredited museum at the Flemish level.

Since 2013, the Flemish research centre, together with the museum library, has been housed in the Sint-Andreas school on the Garenmarkt in Bruges. The centre is accessible to the public by appointment.

Core tasks: To initiate, facilitate, stimulate and disseminate research on the art of the Burgundian Netherlands

The library of the Flemish research centre functions first and foremost as a reference library. This reference library is continuously expanded with works on the Flemish Primitives and their broader European art historical context. The focus is on the works of the 15th and 16th centuries that are present in the collections of the Bruges museums, churches and sister institutions within the Flemish Art Collection vzw. In addition, reference works on conservation, restoration and material-technical research, as well as academic journals on the 15th and 16th-century art are collected.

The Flemish research centre, along with the library, is a place of study for museum colleagues, researchers, experts and the interested public. Furthermore, the Research centre strives to distinguish itself as a leading centre on the level of dissemination and exchange of art historical expertise of the Burgundian art of the 15th and 16th centuries. The centre organises and participates in lectures, colloquia, publications and academic development. The annual series of lectures, "Lectures of the Flemish research centre for the art of the Burgundian Netherlands" (initiated in the autumn of 2012) brings experts to Bruges in order to present their recent research projects.

The Flemish research centre plays an important role in the academic and professional development of young art historians. The Musea Brugge Research School is a new initiative in which young scholars spend three full days, twice a year, in Bruges and intensively study the collections under academic guidance of the art historical staff of the museum and guest docents.

The research centre, along with the Flemish Art Collection, the partner museums in Gent and Antwerp, the Rubenianum in Antwerp and the art history departments of the Universities of Ghent and Leuven, has developed an intensive 10-day long academic Summer Course for the Study of the Arts in Flanders on the art of the 15th, 16th and 17th Centuries in the Southern Netherlands. The first edition "The Age of Van Eyck in Context" will be held during the summer of 2015. The second edition will focus on Rubens and Baroque art.

Young, motivated researchers from both Belgium and abroad, who want to carry out specific research on work(s) from the collections, can be considered for a grant. In addition, financial support is granted annually to a relevant publication.

The Research centre bears the responsibility for the academic accuracy of the information offered on the Flemish Art Collection's website Flemish Primitives: an online museum. The Research centre is advised by a scientific advisory board of national and international specialists.

Practical information:

The Flemish research centre and library are wheelchair accessible.

Where: Garenmarkt 8, 8000 Bruges

When: Please contact the Flemish research centre to make an appointment. Contact: museumbibliotheek@brugge.be or 050/448784

Persons responsible: Vanessa Paumen, Coordinator Flemish research centre for the arts in the Burgundian Netherlands.
Till-Holger Borchert, Director Musea Brugge

Coordinator: Vanessa Paumen

Contact:Vanessa.paumen@brugge.be

Telephone: 0032 50 44 87 65