Conservation of Belgium's artistic Heritage

A significant contribution to the conservation of Belgium's heritage

Although our small country boasts a prosperous past and a diversified real estate cultural heritage, it often finds it difficult to highlight this heritage and to encourage both specialists and the general public to discover its treasures. Optimal conservation and exhibition conditions are the first challenges of opening up access to museum collections. The InBev-Baillet Latour Fund has therefore decided to give first priority to this specific aspect. With an annual budget of € 100,000, the Fund seeks to support the conservation, restoration and enhancement of significant elements of Belgium's heritage that are worthy of international recognition. To this end, it works in close collaboration with the King Baudouin Foundation, which has for more than twenty years been active in the field of heritage restoration and conservation. The financial aid granted by the foundation must be devoted to a work or works that is or are accessible to the public and that is or are the subject of a restoration project borne by the applicant. Other criteria for the selection of the projects submitted each year include: the significance of the work for the Belgian heritage, the urgency of the project, the quality of the project implementation, the visibility and the guarantees for continuity of the project and the project's exemplary value, its topical relevance, and finally the difficulty of obtaining outside support for the project implementation. Since 2002, more than 100 works have benefited from the support of the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund. >>> links: To page "Restoration campaigns carried out with the support from the Fund"

"Since 2002, the InBev-Baillet Latour Fund has sponsored the restoration of major works of our heritage to an amount of almost € 1 million. Today, no other private actor invests a similar amount in this sector. When the Board of Directors wanted to expand the Fund's activities in the heritage sector, it was aware that the King Baudouin Foundation had already organised thematic restoration campaigns between 1989 and 1999. After careful judgment, the Board decided to build on this existing network and to team up with the King Baudouin Foundation in its attempt to give a fresh impetus to the restoration of works of art. Since 2002, more than 100 works have benefited from this approach.Today, owners and managers of major works of art in Belgium can continue to make projects for the safeguarding of their heritage.

They are all grateful to the Fund!" * Dominique Allard is the Director of the King Baudouin Foundation.