Since its inception in 1998, CCNOA, a multidisciplinary non-for-profit art center located in central Brussels, has specialized in the international presentation of all forms of contemporary non-objective art, notably painting, sculpture, photography, site-specific installation, video, sound art as well as architecture.

Abstract art is one of the most progressive and contemporary concepts of the many artistic visions alive today. It initially aimed to embrace all artistic forms of expression and to integrate them into all aspects of daily life. We expand on this farsighted concept. It revolves around the artists and the public, their questions, needs and aims.

CCNOA is the brainchild of Petra Bungert, former Head of Administration at New York’s P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and Director of New York-based Petra Bungert Projects (1995-1997) and German artist and curator Tilman. Originating as a concept with humble beginnings, CCNOA has with its partners developed into an influential art center over the past decade.

CCNOA attracts European and international artists and art professionals to Brussels and actively assists them to communicate their art and practices to interested curators, art institutions, galleries and collectors worldwide. In the process CCNOA has become a platform for younger as well as more established artists, an innovating and experimental art center, and a cultural meeting point for visitors of all age groups and nationalities.

To date, over 200 artists from more than 27 countries including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States have been featured in our exhibitions and many have facilitated cultural and educational exchanges with their respective countries. Artists who have exhibited at CCNOA have subsequently presented their work in leading national and international art museums and participated in Biennials in Sydney and Venice as well as the Documenta. They are represented by critically acclaimed private galleries and are present in many private, corporate and public collections.

Over the past 10 years, we have organized and produced over 250 solo and (touring) group exhibitions in Brussels and abroad, promoting international exchange. The emphasis of our programs is laid on information, analysis and sharing in order to participate in the promotion and the understanding of contemporary art and to stimulate dialogue and connections between local and international actors. Our co-operations and co-productions with cultural organizations, and especially our touring group exhibitions, automatically generate an international dimension. In these co-operations, we function as initiator as well as recipient, as host as well as guest. Thanks to our combined efforts, CCNOA and its associates are today not only integrated into the Belgian cultural landscape but continue to increase their visibility and relevance in relation to the European and international cultural circuit.

Our touring exhibitions include in chronological order: minimalpop (19 - 22 artists / Florence Lynch Gallery, New York City, United States / 2004; Galerie Les filles du calvaire, Paris, France & Brussels, Belgium / 2005; Arti et Amicitiae / Amsterdam, The Netherlands / 2007); 2step (55 artists / Kunstnernes Hus / Oslo, Norway / 2006; Margaret Harvey University Galleries, Hertfordshire, England / 2006); Painted Objects (10 - 22 artists / PS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands / 2005; CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2006), Double Exposure : A Dialogue Between Painting and Photography (10 artists / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2006), A Bit O’ White (21 artists / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2007), My Eyes Keep Me In Trouble (15 - 22 artists / Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem, The Netherlands / 2007; SCA Galleries, Sydney, Australia / 2008; The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand / 2008); Yo, Mo’ Modernism (26 artists / CCNOA, Brussels, Belgium / 2008).

Since our extensive operations abroad have over the past years generated an increased interest from international organizations and art professionals in Belgian’s cultural landscape and in its artistic production, we recently started to develop our new international exchange program INVESTGATE_BE which caters to this demand. The aim of this research residency program is to provide annually two foreign art administrators, curators, or cultural producers with the opportunity to investigate contemporary art production taking place within Belgium and the modus operandi of Belgian art organizations and funding entities, to network professionally within the international arts community, to work with individual artists, art groups and professionals and to convey the critical initiatives underlying their production. In exchange, we will facilitate, in cooperation with our partners, up to two annual research opportunities for Belgian art professionals abroad.

In addition, CCNOA regularly produces and publishes exhibition catalogues, artists’ editions, audio CDs and DVDs and actively aims to inspire the next generation via our education program, showing them different artistic choices in both a European and international context.

Lastly, our CCNOA Friends program enables members and the general public to gain closer access to the aesthetic innovations that we facilitate. And we take pride in providing a welcoming, international meeting point to enable like-minded people to locate others in their international tribe.