{{Short description|Contemporary art centre in Brussels, Belgium}} {{Use British English|date=July 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox museum | name = WIELS | native_name = | native_name_lang = | former_name = | image = Wiels brussels 01.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Exterior of the art centre | alt = | mapframe = yes | mapframe-caption = Interactive fullscreen map | mapframe-zoom = 13 | mapframe-marker = museum | mapframe-wikidata = yes | coordinates = {{coord|50|49|28|N|4|19|33|E|type:landmark_region:BE|display=inline,title}} | established = {{Start date and age|2007|df=y}} | dissolved = | location = {{lang|fr|Avenue Van Volxem|italic=no}} / {{lang|nl|Van Volxemlaan|italic=no}} 354,<br/>1190 Forest, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium | type = Contemporary art | collection_size = | visitors = | director = | president = | curator = | owner = | public_transit = | parking = | network = | website = {{URL|www.wiels.org/en}} }}
'''WIELS''' is a contemporary art centre in Forest, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. The centre opened in 2007 in the former Blomme building, which belonged to the Wielemans-Ceuppens brewery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wiels {{!}} The history of Wiels |url=https://www.wiels.org/en/about-wiels/lhistoire-du-wiels |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Wiels |language=en-BE}}</ref> It has three exhibition platforms with a total exhibition space of {{convert|1,800|m2|abbr=on}}, an auditorium, studio workshops for artists-in-residence, and a café/foyer and bookshop in the former brewing hall.
WIELS has no collection, instead putting on temporary exhibitions by national and international artists.<ref name="artrabbit">{{cite web |title=Gallery Wiels |url=https://www.artrabbit.com/organisations/wiels?view=past |publisher=ArtRabbit |accessdate=2017-02-17}}</ref> It hosts nine artist-in-residency studios, for which it receives hundreds of applications every year.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/arts/design/brussels-making-a-strong-bid-for-art.html?_r=0 |title=Brussels Making a Strong Bid for Art |author=Rachel Donadio |work=The New York Times |date=2015-07-17 |accessdate=2017-02-17}}</ref> For its tenth anniversary in 2017, WIELS organised a group exhibition called the Absent Museum, a reference to the incorrect assumption that WIELS is an art museum.<ref>{{Cite web |title=WIELS {{!}} The Absent Museum |url=https://www.wiels.org/en/exhibitions/le-musée-absent |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=WIELS |language=en-BE}}</ref>
==Building history== In 1931, the Wielemans-Ceuppens family built the Blomme building (named after its architect {{Interlanguage link|Adrien Blomme|nl}}) at 354, {{lang|fr|avenue Van Volxem|italic=no}}/{{lang|nl|Van Volxemlaan|italic=no}} in Forest, to expand its brewing business. At the time, it was the largest brewhouse in continental Europe. In 1988, the brewery closed, and in 1993, the building was given protected status, saving it from demolition. In 2001, the Brussels-Capital Region acquired the building and began renovating it to open WIELS.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brasserie Wielemans-Ceuppens // A Battle for Brussels' Soul |url=https://www.beercity.brussels/home/2020/brasserie-wielemans-ceuppens-wiels-fonderie |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Brussels Beer City |date=14 February 2020 |language=en-IE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Starikova |first=Anastasia |date=2015-12-07 |title=A Brief History of WIELS Art Centre in Brussels |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/belgium/articles/wiels-more-than-just-an-art-centre/ |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Culture Trip}}</ref> The name ''WIELS'' was derived from Wielemans-Ceuppens. It is one of the few examples of modernist industrial architecture in Belgium.<ref name="artrabbit" />
==See also== {{Portal|Belgium}} * List of museums in Brussels * History of Brussels * Culture of Belgium
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|WIELS}} * {{Official|https://www.wiels.org/en}}
{{Museums and galleries in Brussels}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Art museums and galleries in Brussels Category:Forest, Belgium Category:Culture in Brussels Category:Art museums and galleries established in 2007