BPS22

The BPS22 (acronym of Bâtiment Provincial Solvay, n°22 du boulevard Solvay) is the Art Museum of the Hainaut Province. Since its creation, in 2000, firstly as a contemporary creative space and since 2015, as a Museum, the BPS22 has positioned itself as one of the pioneers of the cultural development of Charleroi. The Museum favours art forms centred on current social news and the cultural phenomena characteristic of our times. Temporary, monographic or collective exhibitions are planned throughout the year.

The founding principle of BPS22’s activity is social advancement through accession to culture, which is considered to be a form of “deepening of democracy”. This is an essential vector for democracy which allows citizens to approach the world in which they live in a more critical way.

The focus points of BPS22 are:

• to allow the identification of artistic affiliations which go beyond the classifications of traditional art history through a totally new programme;
• to decompartmentalise the styles and the times by making works cohabit or have a dialogue, regardless of their technical or historical classification;
• to present avant-garde artists and more experimental events that establish links between plastic arts and music, dance, theatre, performance, urban sports, etc.;
• to fulfil its critical pedagogical function, both in the planning of exhibitions and in the offers of mediation services put in place (internship, reflection days, conferences etc.)

The BPS22 opened its doors again in 2015, after a thorough renovation. Les Mondes Inversés [The World Turns Upside Down], its big opening exhibition, gathered together a significant collection of contemporary works of art, drawing from popular culture in various ways.

The BPS22, the Hainaut Province's Museum of Art in Charleroi, is an exhibition space especially dedicated to art forms focusing on current social issues. The museum's programme gives prominent space to international artists that deal with greater global issues, such as Kendell Geers, Jota Castro, mounir fatmi and Wang Du, as well as cultural phenomena characteristic of our time, such as the world of media and urban sub-cultures like punk or graffiti, for instance.

The BPS22 notably organised the following exhibitions: the major Marthe Wéry exhibition; The Colours of Monochrome at the Museum of Fine Arts in Tournai for the European Capital of Culture, Lille 2004; and the Brussels South Airport at the Krinzinger Projekte in Vienna.

In the space of a few years, the BPS22 team formed national and international collaborations and partnerships with institutions that are widely recognised. In Belgium, these institutions include: the Photography Museum in Charleroi and Charleroi/Dance; the S.M.A.K, Ghent; and the Blac, Matrix Art Project, Brussels.

Internationally, the BPS22 has worked with the following institutions, among others: the Palais de Tokyo, Paris; the Criée Centre of Contemporary Art, Rennes; the Migros Museum, Zurich; the FRAC-PACA (Regional Contemporary Art Fund), Marseille; the FRAC-Alsace, Selestat; the Baltic Art Centre, Gateshead; the MAC, Lyon; the Mudam, Luxembourg; the French Academy - Villa Medicis, Rome; and the Mamco, Geneva.