@Home with... The Boghossian Foundation at the Villa Empain, Belgium and the exhibition "Icons"

The Boghossian Foundation opens virtually its doors for The Art Circle and unveils the fascinating story of the Villa Empain, from the Barons Empain to the Boghossian family.

Louma Salamé will welcome you and introduce you to the high end artistic program that offers the Boghossian Foundation today as a Centre for art and dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures.

The Villa Empain is a must-see cultural venue of Brussels’ art world, and also a remarkable testament of the Art Deco movement. It was built at the beginning of the 1930s by architect Michel Polak on Baron Louis Empain’s initiative.

Caroline Schuermans will reveal the fascinating history of the Villa that reflects the rhythm of Brussels’ history, as well as its restoration carried out by the Boghossian Foundation in full respect of the history of the building. This complex and delicate project was awarded the Europa Nostra prize by the European Union. She will present the current exhibition, Icons, curated by the former President of the Louvre Museum, Henri Loyrette.

Louma Salamé graduated from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (Paris). She worked at Guggenheim museum (New York), Mudam (Luxembourg), Mathaf (Doha), Institut du monde arabe (Paris), and for the project of the Abu Dhabi’s Louvre Museum. Since 2016, she is Director of the Boghossian Foundation for which she curated the following exhibitions: Frontières Imaginaires (2017), Melancholia (2018), Flamboyant (2019 – record number of visitors), and The Light House (2020).

Caroline Schuermans is art historian (Université Libre de Bruxelles). Since 2015, she is head of communications of the Boghossian Foundation.

Icons

From early icons from Europe and the Middle East to modern and contemporary works, icons have inspired many believers, as well as artists, throughout the ages. The exhibition unveils how spiritual dimensions have been incorporated into artworks since antiquity.