École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de La Cambre (ENSAV La Cambre)

Mission Statement

In the fields of the plastic and visual arts and the use of space, La Cambre is the leading higher education and graduate Arts school of the Wallonia Brussels Federation in the capital of Belgium and of Europe. Its political and cultural situation contribute to its commitment to a quality, diverse education. In addition, La Cambre recognizes its place in the avant-garde history which is part of its past.

 La Cambre is a state educational institution, and as such it offers a wide range of specialized studies. Currently eighteen different fields of study are offered in the fields of the plastic and visual arts and the use of space. The corresponding artistic disciplines are considered equally important and complementary; their diversity reflects the plurality of current practices in the art world today. A priority at La Cambre is creation, whether it be in the learning of knowledge or the perfecting of skills and practices. The school prepares students to perform the artistic functions which are essential to society, in activities already recognized and those which are to come. The school espouses no agenda nor any particular movement or trend, but it does include in its programs the questions which permeate contemporary society; it is a safe space for reflection and exchange. The departments encourage commitment to our common values: a capacity for initiative and invention, autonomy, competence, knowledge, a critical eye, personal authenticity and social awareness. Studies at La Cambre include two essential components: reinforcement and the spirit of openness. The student who is admitted to first cycle studies enters a specific artistic program, in which compulsory courses are supplemented by periods of reflection, something which will continue throughout his or her studies, strengthening and reinforcing his or her commitment. Students become aware of the specificities of their chosen medium as they move inevitably toward artistic autonomy reinforcement is balanced by the spirit of openness, particularly in the exercise of cross disciplinarity which La Cambre offers, based on the concept of free will and individual commitment.

Main Focus

Founded in 1927 by the architect and designer Henry van de Velde, the École nationale supérieure des arts visuels of La Cambre (ENSAV) has nearly 850 students in 20 different departments: ceramics, animation, drawing, urban design, engraving and the printed image, painting, photography, sculpture, and an art restoration department. Its design departments include industrial and textile design, book design and bookbinding, interior design, set design, fashion and accessories design, as well as graphic and visual communication and typography. Since autumn 2016, the school has also offered a master's degree in contemporary creative writing and a master's degree in dance and choreographic practice.

Students attend several cross-disciplinary courses, both optional and compulsory, including the digital arts, life drawing, color, video, physical practice and performance, book art and illustration. Along with their artistic studies, students study both theory and technique, general and specialized, and are encouraged to attend outside courses, including the Erasmus student exchange program, assisting working artists, and studying at arts centers, agencies and a number of commercial companies.

Courses are spread over five years and divided into two cycles: Bachelor’s (180 credits) and Master’s (120 credits) levels. The school also offers a post-graduate degree – for those interested in a teaching career – and offers students PhD preparation in Arts and Art Sciences, co-organized with the University. Outside the regular cursus, the school offers a preparatory class during the school year as well as a summer school class, both of which are for students in their senior year of high school/ secondary school, who are interested in studying the arts at an institution of higher learning.

La Cambre is a graduate and post-graduate school for the arts (ESA) organised by the Brussels Wallonia Federation. The school is part of the Brussels Academic pole – the cluster of institutions of higher learning in the region – as well as the cross-disciplinary ARTes platform, including the Brussels Royal Conservatory and INSAS (film, music, theatre). It has developed a solid partnership with the Free University of Brussels (ULB) in terms of research and certain classes. La Cambre participates regularly in national and international partnerships, institutional, educational, artistic, socio-cultural, industrial and commercial, each of which feeds into and becomes part of the structuring of its teaching.