Mapping artists in 19th-21st centuries Brussels

Mapping artistic creation today offers an interesting perspective on the contemporary structure of a city, its urban dynamics and its creative economy. Extending the time perspective raises new questions regarding the inclusion of creative dimension in the historical development of urban space. My research deals with residential location of visual artists in Brussels from 1830 until now, a time period of major evolutions regarding artist’s status, and in the urban and economic development of the capital. Many issues arose on a methodological perspective, the main being how to find suitable data and to locate them. The results of the cartographic work show the evolution of artistic presence, following the extension of the city and the evolving needs of creative individuals. Nevertheless, two major concentrations emerge at the end of the 19th century that still influence the spatial distribution of today’s artists. The Brussels case illustrates how stimulating it is to take into account the time dimension in studying artists’ neighbourhoods and it calls to consider others aspects of the art world (training, selling…) the same way. In showing evidences of spatial permanencies, the results offer an original point of view on the development of the city; they also enlighten a lacking perspective in current debates about creative economy and urban redevelopment – the need to take into consideration the historical depth of spatial structures.