IKOB International Art Centre East Belgium
The IKOB Museum of Contemporary Art is a cultural institution in the Province of Liège (Belgium). It is situated in Eupen, the largest city in the German-speaking Community of Belgium. It was founded in 1993 by Francis Feidler as the "IKOB - International Art Centre of East Belgium" and was renamed to its current name in 2005. Since then, the IKOB is the only recognised art museum in the German-speaking Community of Belgium. IKOB is an abbreviation for "Internationales Kunstzentrum Ostbelgien in Eupen". History After the Eupen abattoir located on the Rotenbergplatz was closed down in the early 1990s, plans were made to convert it into a cultural centre. The executive of the German-speaking Community together with the freelance art teacher Francis Feidler founded the "IKOB - international art centre of East Belgium" on 16 February 1993, which was as an umbrella organisation for the coordination and reorganisation of the Eupen cultural scene in the field of contemporary art. Due to a lack of permanent premises in the first few years, exhibitions and events were organised in public parks or in temporarily rented premises. The IKOB was able to garner international attention through the sculpture exhibition Kontakt 93 that took