BRAFA, an unmissable event in the Europe’s art market calendar, will be welcoming art lovers and collectors in Brussels from 26 January to 2 February 2025. The prestigious art fair is celebrating its 70th edition this year, marking seven decades of tradition and renewal. Since its beginnings in 1956, BRAFA has continued to evolve whilst preserving its DNA based on quality and eclecticism.
BRAFA’s story began nearly 70 years ago, when it was held under the name “Foire des Antiquaires” in the Salle Arlequin of the Galeries Louise in Brussels. The initiative, which came from Charles Van Hove, the chairman of the Belgian Chamber of Antique Dealers at the time, aimed to bring together the country’s leading antique dealers. There were only two other international art fairs to rival it at the time of its foundation: Grosvenor House in London and Prinsenhof in Delft.
The Fair met with instant success, and by 1968 the growing number of participants prompted the organisers to move the event to the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, a venue that was better suited to the ambitions of the Fair. Attracting more and more exhibitors from abroad, the event grew internationally, a transformation begun in 1995 under the influence of Christian de Bruyn, who chaired the Fair from 1971 to 2002. Since moving to Brussels Expo in 2022, BRAFA has benefited from the advantage of the infrastructure of this historic site, a legacy of the Brussels World Fairs of 1935 and 1958. The fair has become a real institution, a place of discovery and exchange for art enthusiasts and experts in an elegant and friendly atmosphere.
Under the chairmanship of Klaas Muller, elected last June, BRAFA continues to assert its role on the international scene, following the vision of maintaining excellence whilst taking into account new demands of the art market.
What to expect this year?
130 exhibitors from 16 countries will be presenting a selection of exquisite works from all eras and continents combined. Each of them, like all the other works on display, will be scrutinised by a hundred international experts before the opening of the Fair. More than 20 specialities, including paintings, furniture, sculptures and rare objects from Antiquity to the present day will be on offer at a wide range of prices, from a few thousand euros to seven figures.
Amongst the new participants, BRAFA is delighted to be welcoming COLNAGHI, based in London, New York, Madrid and Brussels. Founded in 1760, the gallery has established itself in Europe and the United States as one of the leading dealers in Old Master paintings, prints and drawings, presenting masterpieces to the world’s leading collectors and museums.
On the Belgian side, the 70th edition will be welcoming galleries renowned in their fields, such as Edouard Simoens Gallery (Knokke), which focuses on post-war and contemporary art, Galerie Lowet de Wotrenge (Antwerp), which specialises in paintings, drawings and sculptures by Flemish and Dutch Masters, and Objects with Narratives (Brussels), which will be presenting design with a focus on Belgian artists. The full list of exhibitors is available here.
Guest of honor this year will be Joana Vasconcelos. Joana is a Portuguese visual artist, born in 1971. Over the course of her 30-year career, she has made use of a wide variety of media. Although she has a preference for textiles, Joana also works with cement, metal, ceramics, glass, and found objects. She is renowned for her monumental sculptures and immersive installations. Her ambition is to decontextualise everyday objects and revisit the concept of craft in the twenty-first century. Her humorous, ironic work examines the status of women, consumer society and collective identity. Her international reputation was consolidated in 2005, at the first Venice Biennale curated by women, where she presented her piece The Bride, a classically shaped chandelier whose crystal pendants had been replaced by approximately 14,000 tampons.
A new collaboration with KIK- IRPA – Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
Since its founding in 1948, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) has played a pioneering role in the preservation of a wide variety of heritage objects, including paintings, wood and stone sculptures, tapestries, precious metals, glass and elements of architectural heritage.
The building in Brussels that has housed KIK-IRPA since 1962 was the first in the world to be specially designed to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to conserving works of art, in which restorers, chemists, engineers, imaging specialists, photographers and art historians work together. Approximately 100 of its scientists are working on ambitious projects at both national and international levels.
At BRAFA, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage will be showcasing the many facets of its work, from art conservation and restoration to heritage management and scientific analysis, in a space next to the King Baudouin Foundation. Visitors are invited to discover how specialists analyse and document works of art, providing fascinating insights into their history and their crafting techniques.
The King Baudouin Foundation
The King Baudouin Foundation will be displaying a selection of remarkable works from its
collection at BRAFA 2025, demonstrating its commitment to preserving and promoting Belgian heritage internationally. Thanks to the generosity of patrons and the work of several philanthropic funds, the Foundation has been able to build up a valuable collection of more than 27,000 works and 27 archival collections, which it has entrusted to nearly 100 museums and institutions throughout Belgium. Its participation in BRAFA is in keeping with the idea of making these treasures accessible to the general public and highlighting its mission to protect Belgian heritage for future generations.
The BRAFA Art Talks
As usual, BRAFA will be offering a series of daily lectures, the BRAFA Art Talks, on the stand of the King Baudouin Foundation. Leading figures from the art world, exhibition and museum curators and art market experts will be sharing their knowledge and expertise in a wide range of fascinating fields. It’s a great opportunity to discover works of art, artists and periods, and to learn more about art and the art market! Every day at 4 p.m. from Saturday, January 25th to Sunday, February 2nd–except Monday, January 27th, 2025.
Get ready for your visit and discover the works and highlights of the various exhibitors on BRAFA’s website.
