In the margin, the S.M.A.K. also counted 20,000 visitors for ‘Invisible Beauty’. This exhibition, curated by Philippe Van Cauteren and the Ruya Foundation, was held in the Iraq Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. Van Cauteren showed work by five Iraqi artists. ‘Invisible Beauty’ will be on at the S.M.A.K. as from May 2016.
In addition to the many visitors for ‘Drawing | The Bottom Line’, the S.M.A.K. also enjoyed large attendances for the exhibition by Lili Dujourie in the summer and that by Larry Sultan in the spring. When we add to this the visitor figures for Berlinde De Bruyckere in January and February, we reach a grand total of 101,500 visitors in 2015. All these visitors flocked to the S.M.A.K. thanks to the broad interest shown by the national and international press and the appealing and much appreciated themes of the exhibitions. Most of them were Belgian, but many also came from our neighbouring countries.
Philippe Van Cauteren, artistic director of the S.M.A.K.: ‘I am extremely pleased with these figures, especially because so many people are discovering our museum. This year we have carried out more intensive promotional campaigns specifically targeted at schools, visitors with children and group organisations. The figures show that these campaigns have worked. In addition, a successful exhibition gives us the opportunity to broaden public taste. But the museum’s core task remains to seek out experimentation. After all, good museum policy is about more than visitor numbers.’
