The capital of surrealism

Brussels, where Romanic and Germanic cultures meet — blending, contrasting, colliding, and dissolving. This cultural, social, and political crossroad — or rather mayhem — creates the perfect soil for surrealism: the art form made famous by René Magritte, yet still palpable in contemporary daily life. Though Brussels is a relatively small-scale capital, it radiates a powerful international vibe. Officially bilingual (Dutch and French), it is home to speakers of more than a hundred languages.

The capital of eclectism

Brussels, mostly famous for Art Nouveau, boasts a varied cultural and architectural heritage, including Gothic, Classical, Neoclassical, Art Deco, and Brutalist styles. Due to a lack of respect for historic heritage, questionable real estate operations, and numerous “solutions” to accommodate cars, trains, and daily commuters, the city developed its chaotic and eclectic urban appearance.

Brussels, a city full of contrasts

Its diversity is strongly reflected in its cultural landscape. Brussels is a hub for contemporary dance and performance arts, and hosts a wide variety of venues for fine arts, opera, music, arthouse cinemas and a film museum.

Brussels is full of secrets and hidden gems. It wears a different face at every moment, always ready to surprise its curious residents.

LUCA School of Arts is a creative hub for nearly 5,000 people: over 4,000 students and 800 colleagues. LUCA offers them an educational and research environment to further develop their creative talent through higher education programmes in the broad field of the arts, and through artistic research, embedded within an associated Faculty of Arts at KU Leuven. LUCA has five campuses in four cities: Ghent, Brussels, Leuven, and Genk.

LUCA believes that art and design impact society and the world in countless ways. It is currently working on its role as a social actor, on unlocking the multi-campus reality into a network, on evolving the five original educational institutes into a joint laboratory, and on responding to educational and research questions from the outside world.

In colourful Schaarbeek, Campus Sint-Lukas stands as a landmark and hotspot for young talent in design and art. Sint-Lukas houses both academic and professional courses, such as Visual Arts (Fine Arts, Media & Information Design, Comics, Illustration, Photography), Audiovisual (Film, Animation), Interior Design, Construction and Educational Master. The campus welcomes two European Joint Masters (DocNomads^PLUS & FilmMemory) and one European Joint Bachelor (PathFinder), all part of the FilmEU network.

In addition to education and research, Sint-Lukas organises lots of events on the cutting edge of the contemporary art field. Students also develop their practice outside the campus walls, in the bustling city. The European capital that inspires and challenges... Brussels by day, Brussels by night...