KIK-IRPA's news

The four major institutions located in the Cinquantenaire Park – Autoworld Museum Brussels, the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), the Royal Museums of Art and History (KMKG-MRAH) and the War Heritage Institute (WHI) – have signed a declaration of intent to structurally strengthen their collaboration.

The Triptych of the Descent from the Cross (c. 1455-1460), one of the most important works by the Leuven painter Dieric Bouts, will return to the Royal Chapel of Granada Cathedral in early June 2026. The painting spent three years in Belgium, where it was displayed at M Leuven and underwent an exceptional conservation-restoration treatment carried out by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA). This month, the masterpiece will once again be installed in its historic setting.

The management of KIK-IRPA wishes to respond to the inaccurate and insufficiently nuanced information currently circulating about the Institute’s library.

In December, the KIK-IRPA Textiles Lab had the pleasure of hosting the consortium meeting of the Colour4CRAFTS project.

On 30-31 October 2025, the Art Salinity and Acidity Project (ASAP), the Materials Science for Conservation Research (MatCoRe) unit – jointly supported by KIK-IRPA and the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) – and the Ghent Altarpiece conservation-restoration team came together for a unique two-day collaboration focused on the gilded areas of the paintings.

At the end of October, Camille Jallu, paper conservator who graduated from ENSAV La Cambre, presented a poster at the Icon (Institute of Conservation) Book and Paper Group Conference "Conservation Uncovered: Investigation and Discovery in Treatment and Analysis" (The National Archives, Kew, London).

Flemish Ministers Ben Weyts (Immovable Heritage) and Caroline Gennez (Culture) announced additional funding from the Flemish Government for further work in the final phase of the conservation of the Ghent Altarpiece. The announcement was made during a visit to the conservation studio of the Ghent Altarpiece at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent.

Take part in the ECHOES Consultation and help shape the future of cultural heritage collaboration.

On Thursday, December 12th, 2024, heritage enthusiasts gathered at the Saint James' Church in Antwerp for a successful fundraising dinner in support of the conservation and restoration of Rubens' tomb chapel and its artistic treasures.

On behalf of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage and the Church Board of Saint James' Antwerp, we would like to sincerely thank everyone – both those in attendance and other donors – for their support and generosity.

As with the first two phases of the conservation-restoration project of the Ghent Altarpiece, the KIK-IRPA team has encountered extensive overpainting from the 16th century. The removal of the thick and often heavily darkened layers of paint requires significant time and concentration but gradually reveals the subtle nuances so characteristic of the Van Eyck brothers' painting technique.

The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA) is proud of its new collaboration with BRAFA on the 70th anniversary of the art fair. This year's Brussels Art Fair will take place from 26 January to 2 February 2025.

The Textiles Studio of KIK-IRPA worked on two subprojects within the CHrisis project, which was initiated following the 2021 floods in Wallonia. The first project focused on investigating the effects of first aid actions on the long-term preservation and conservation treatment of water-damaged textile heritage. The second research project centered on assessing the value and significance of liturgical textiles.