Social inclusion is one of the core pillars of the Candriam Institute for Sustainable Development. We direct action at the local level and support initiatives that help young people to grow in each stage of their development, including removing societal barriers that could limit them from reaching their full potential. The Institute supports long-term projects, encouraging the intellectual blossoming of children, the development of teenager talents, and educational grants for disadvantaged students.
We have recently embarked on a new partnership with Le Palais des Beaux-Arts—The Centre for Fine Arts—known as BOZAR , to support two initiatives that will bring the pleasures of art and music to children who might otherwise not be able to share in these experiences.
Art with a social purpose at its core
BOZAR, the home of the National Orchestra of Belgium, is a multi-purpose cultural venue in Brussels, Belgium. It offers a dynamic and diversified cultural programme of concerts and exhibitions, focusing on a multidisciplinary approach in which debates, theatre, cinema and other disciplines intersect to reflect on the connections between art and society. It also offers a wide variety of educational programmes for schools, families and children.
Far from being just another arts centre, BOZAR is dedicated to being a centre for fine arts with a social purpose, including social inclusion, making it a good fit with the goals of The Institute.
BOZAR’S mission statement is clear: "Everyone, regardless of colour, religion, origin or physical ability, will be welcome at the Centre for Fine Arts and will have the opportunity to actively participate in cultural life”.
Its cultural mission is based on four main pillars: Programming, Creation, Participation, and Reflection.
The Cantania project brings together children from different backgrounds—who do not necessarily speak the same language—to sing in harmony. It offers a playful means to improve language skills but also personal skills such as openness to others, cooperation and self-confidence. I believe that Cantania is a unique experience that has a long-lasting positive impact on the children.
The partnership with Candriam will support two significant cultural initiatives:
- Interactive School days: Cultural introductions to arts and music for primary and secondary school students. While children benefit immensely from exposure to the arts, the cost of cultural visits is often a barrier for schools that are less well off financially. Interactive school days can help redress this balance by inviting young disadvantaged students to attend a concert or visit an exhibition.
- Cantania, a participatory singing project aimed at second- and third-level primary school children in Brussels to promote singing in the classroom. Each year, BOZAR trains teachers to acquire the necessary tools to teach their students to sing in unison. Throughout the year, they work together on the bilingual songs of a cantata specifically written for them. The project culminates in two large concerts that bring together the children and their teachers, accompanied by the musicians of the Belgian National Orchestra, in a prestigious hall of the Palais des Beaux-Arts.
In a society that reinvents itself every day, art can encourage pupils to understand inclusion and diversity, and discover their own emotions.
This new partnership joins the many other social inclusion and solidarity partnerships in which our Institute is involved. For more details on these partnerships, you can visit the dedicated page