On May 23rd, 2025, the KBR museum reopens its doors with a new musical experience ! […]

In 1678, Paris saw the publication of an anonymous novel. In the preface, the publisher explains this anonymity: the author “fears that their name might diminish the success of the book.”

KBR has just expanded its collection with a unique acquisition: a rare sketchbook by the Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff (1858–1921). This precious document, containing more than 45 drawings, dates from the time when Khnopff was a student and regularly stayed in Paris. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the artistic beginnings of one of Belgium’s most intriguing artists.

Thanks to a collaboration with the Zentrum für Ostbelgische Geschichte (ZOG), BelgicaPress has been expanded to include roughly 171,000 pages of newspapers from the German-speaking Community.

Nearly a kilometre of scores, archival documents and musical works from the library of the Conservatories will be temporarily added to the KBR collections.

The past comes alive at the KBR. The cultural and historical heritage we preserve testifies to our history, and gives a picture of what life was like in the past. Several showpieces from our extensive collections are now featured in “Een Geschiedenis van België in honderd voorwerpen” (A History of Belgium in 100 Objects) published by Lannoo.

By 2027, more than 4 million pages will have been digitised. As a result, the current offering in BELGICA PRESS will double, and be systematically extended to the period 1951-1989.

Eugène Ysaÿe’s somewhat forgotten score for the ‘Ouverture sur des thèmes d’Atala’, dedicated to his deceased brother, was discovered by two employees of the KBR and Bozar purely by coincidence. The score was immediately handed over to the KBR for study and preservation.

Intern Jasmine Vo takes a closer look at the Hans de Winiwarter Fund. Discover an extraordinary collection of more than 1,100 Japanese books, the catalogue of which is now accessible online.