The Brussels-Capital Region will pay tribute to Art Deco throughout 2025 through events, guided tours, visits and conferences. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the art movement.
Brussels has made a name for itself as the city of Art Nouveau. However, another well-known movement is very present in the region, namely Art Deco.
From the Flagey cultural centre, Forest town hall and Bozar to the Villa Empain cultural centre, the Eldorado Hall at UGC De Brouckère and the Basilica of Koekelberg, Art Deco can be spotted throughout Brussels. Distinctive signs are the geometric and angular shapes and motifs, shiny materials and warm, contrasting colours with gold or silver accents.
Credit: Johan Jacobs
In 2025, Brussels will pay tribute to this movement for the 100th anniversary of Art Deco. "We want to bring people back to the exuberant mood of those days, in the beautiful decors and houses that this stylish art movement created," said Ans Persoons (Vooruit), outgoing Brussels State Secretary for Town Planning and Heritage.
The aim is to showcase the movement's origins, how it characterised Brussels society in the 1920s and 1930s, and how Art Deco continues to shape the streetscape. Brussels hopes to emulate the success of the Art Nouveau year in 2023, which attracted two million visitors.
A taste of the 1920s
The extensive programme for Art Deco 2025 was unveiled on Tuesday 28 January. It includes visits, exhibitions, conferences and events highlighting the heritage in all its forms.
Throughout the year, visitors can marvel at Brussels' Art Deco gems. Several associations will organise guided tours of buildings such as the Museum and Gardens Van Buuren, the Tenaerts House and the Saint-Suzanna Church in Schaerbeek.
The UGC cinema in De Brouckère. Credit: visit.brussels
Most of the buildings will also be open during the Brussels Art Nouveau Art Deco Festival (BANAD Festival) from 15 to 30 March. The majority of this year's programme will consist of Art Deco buildings, many of which have never been opened to the public.
Other activities will be organised with a focus on the social issues Art Deco addressed in the 1920s and 1930s. This was a period of liberation, but also of economic, social and political threats in the run-up to the 1929 stock market crash. Some 14 exhibitions will also be organised throughout the year in iconic Art Deco locations.
The Brussels Art Deco Society will organise a year-long programme of meetings, debates and lectures on Art Deco, in collaboration with Belgian and foreign specialists.
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In May, Art Deco Week will be organised by the 'Art Deco at Home' consortium, which includes the Art Deco Society. Conferences, exhibition vernissages, festive events and guided visits will be on the agenda.
Several sites will be accessible through the Art Nouveau Pass, which is evolving into the 'Art Nouveau Art Deco Pass'. Finally, this year's Heritage Days in September will also focus on 'Art Deco, crazy years, crisis years'. A free programme of visits and discoveries will be offered throughout the region.
Find more information on the Art Deco 2025 website.
