La Libre Belgique · 1994 · Pascal Sac (text) · Rogé (photo)

A naval embassy for the capital

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Article by Pascal Sac announcing sculptor Mon De Rijck's four-year European economic and cultural crusade aboard Le Grand A, his barge converted into a travelling exhibition pavilion promoting Brussels: one year on Belgian rivers and canals, three years across Europe (Antwerp, Hamburg, Prague, Warsaw...). At each stop, the thirty works by ten Brussels artists would be joined for a month by local artists, with exhibitions, events, business meetings and official contacts. The expedition - catalogue, book and video reports - had to raise a budget of 10 million a year; Procter & Gamble had agreed, Nestlé was interested, and minister Didier Gosuin found the idea "thrilling". The article also mentions Art Pool, the art promotion cooperative founded by Mon De Rijck (80 rue Gaucheret, 1210 Brussels), and his land-based operations of 1976 and 1978 in South America and Asia.