Sharing ART through love and passion
in BRUSSELS
A prestigious site
- For emerging artists from Africa and Europe.
- For Brussels residents of all ages, both local and international.
- For students and their professors.
Our Aims
- Share Art through love and passion.
- Celebrate the wealth and diversity of talents of emerging or independent artists from Brussels and Africa.
- Link local to global focusing on Art practice.
- Facilitate a renaissance of multicultural conversations through Art.
Our Initiatives
- To welcome yearly 8 artists on our residency program, pairing one African artist with one European artist for periods of 8 to 10 weeks.
- To provide from September to end of June, an art studio to 4 artists freshly graduated from LA CAMBRE or from a Flemish Art school.
- Beyond the residency program, we will offer a 2 to 3 weeks exhibition in our space for early to mid career artists without a gallery representation.
- In collaboration with LA CAMBRE we will exhibit on occasion works by Master II students of the Art School.
- To offer in June the SAFFCA Prize, sending a Master II degree artist to Africa for a residency in one of our sites in Southern Africa.
- To send another 3 Belgian or European artists on a 8 to 10 weeks residency to one of the Saffca sites in Southern Africa beginning in 2023.
We host every year
- 8 informal gatherings to welcome the resident artists and to celebrate the end of their residency.
- 6 to 8 openings of exhibitions by independent or emerging artists.
- 1 to 2 openings of the SALON exhibitions with Belgian, European and African artists.
- 1 opening of an exhibition of works by students having finished their Master II at ENSAV LA CAMBRE.
- Performances, conferences, debates, children and youth education programs…
Our Objectives
- To follow the aims of BRUSSELS – CULTURAL EUROPEAN CAPITAL 2030 and to participate to the reunion of the artistic and cultural community of Brussels around a common project.
- To offer in Ixelles a specific opportunity in the rich cultural landscape of the European capital.
- To celebrate the wealth and diversity of the independent or emerging talents from Belgium, Europe and Africa.
- To publish and grow the awareness for these emerging talents using the print and digital media.
- To offer an example of the quality of the African Contemporary art through some of the works in the SAFFCA COLLECTION.
- To participate in many cultural events through collaborations and partnerships.
- To engage with the african Community established in Brussels to respond some of their expectations and their interest for the Contemporary art of their original or ancestral origins.
- To generate regular interactions between European and African artists in residency, the artists from Brussels in their studio spaces and the students in the art schools to allow them to discover the more specific experiences of artists from a variety of origins. Together, they will discover each other’s talents and work process and achieve a deeper multicultural understanding and mutual respect.
The Birth of our Partnership
“ Since the end of 2017, when we first dreamt of the possibility of a return to the campus at La Cambre Abbey, the concept of showcasing art and hosting artists in residence has been a part of our thoughts and hopes. As the dream for this turned closer to a reality, thanks to the transfer of the Abbey to the Wallonie- Brussels Education fund to benefit ENSAV La Cambre, the meeting with Pierre Lombart from SAFFCA in October 2020 allowed us to achieve this dream. This initial partnership marks our first in a series of partnerships along these lines. An artist residency is at the core of the « raison d’être » for an art school. In addition, the use of the buildings for this partnership will result in an immediate reuse and renovation of the space, which is overdue for a more long-term renovation to come. The international project of SAFFCA and its positive links for our students, as well as the exchange of opportunities on our campus, will further strengthen what we, ENSAV La Cambre , can offer as part of our yearly curriculum. We therefore welcome with wholehearted enthusiasm this cultural and artistic partnership between ENSAV La Cambre and SAFFCA.EU in Brussels.”
Benoît Hennaut, Headmaster of E.N.S.A.V. LA CAMBRE
Please come and meet with us
We are expecting your visits and welcome you on the prestigious site of the Abbey of La Cambre.
Nicola Bird, Astrid Centner, Kate Fellens, Dana Endundo Ferreira, Valentine Himpens, Ayoko Mensah, Jeanne Mouffe, Ohana Nkulufa, Pascale Van Zuylen, Joachim von Beust, Tanguy de Briey, Bruno Erpicum, Olivier Gevart, Charles Kaisin, Roland de Lathuy, Pierre Lombart, André Vossen, Godefroid de Woelmont, l’école nationale supérieure des arts visuels LA CAMBRE and SAFFCA are the effective members of SAFFCA.EU.
SAFFCA.EU, in partnership with LA CAMBRE, follows in the heart of Europe the dream of SAFFCA (Southern African Foundation For Contemporary Art) originally born in Africa in 2015.
SAFFCA.EU 0766.407.193 IBAN : BE98 0689 4117 8293
With the friendly encouragement of XLG.