Continue to Support KBR

Although we’ve reached our goal, our mission to preserve our cultural heritage doesn’t end here. If you’d like to continue supporting KBR and our initiatives, you can make an online donation on our website. Every contribution, large or small, helps us to make accessible to everyone the world-renowned heritage we conserve, manage and study.

Follow the Restoration of the Rousseau Album

For those who participated in this campaign, and for all art lovers, we invite you to follow the Rousseau Album restoration process closely. Sign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive updates on the progress of the restoration work. You’ll also find information on upcoming events, exhibitions, and other exciting projects at KBR.

Essential restoration work

This restoration project is crucial to preserving the album of drawings and illustrated letters dating from 1883, compiled by Mariette Rousseau, a close friend of James Ensor. The album, currently on display at the exhibition “James Ensor. Inspired by Brussels” until June 2, 2024, is undergoing rapid deterioration due to the acidic paper, silk leaves and partially detached binding. Prior to this exhibition, the album was rarely shown because of its poor condition. Thanks to the restoration, we will be able to lend this precious album again to other institutions for inclusion in other exhibitions, so that it can be seen by a wider public.

KBR and MRBAB: Collaboration for Conservation

KBR, in collaboration with the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB), is leading this essential restoration. Your financial support will enable a specialist conservator to carry out this complex project, including:

• treatment of the interleaved paper: re-attachment, repair, flattening and creation of a barrier against acid migration
• consolidation of the binding and re-attachment of the signatures
• full documentation of treatments carried out

Thanks again!

Thank you again for your generosity and commitment to preserving our cultural heritage. We look forward to sharing with you the progress of this exciting project.

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