Hans Bourlon and Gert Verhulst are two creative entrepreneurs, a remarkable duo with healthy ambition. They charted a unique course to the top. A success story with diverse formats.
As CEO of the Studio 100 empire, Hans Bourlon is the quiet force, while Gert Verhulst is the man who likes to be in the spotlight. The television landscape is his playground. Bourlon prefers to operate behind the scenes. A socially engaged man. A philanthropist who works to provide opportunities for refugees, young people with trauma or Down syndrome to integrate.
Creative entrepreneurs never stand still and seek synergies to grow and diversify further. Success is not enough for them; they embrace experiments and challenges. A few years ago, Hans Bourlon together with his brother Joost launched the exhibition 'Het Kunstuur' in the atmospheric Gothic Heilige Geestkapel in Mechelen, directly opposite Sint-Romboutskathedraal. It became a success story. The sixth edition started in Mechelen on Friday. The fifth was the most successful so far with over 44,000 visitors. This autumn the 200,000 mark will be reached.
In 2022 the exhibition took place in Hasselt, in the historic Stadhuis, and since spring 2023 Het Kunstuur has also been established in Sint-Amandskerk in Roeselare. How can this success be explained?
Niche
Many people have never set foot in a museum. They are usually impressive buildings, the threshold is too high.
Hans Bourlon and his brother Joost inherited their love of painting from their grandfather, Jozef De Bie, a talented landscape painter who studied at the academy in Aalst where the work of Valerius De Saedeleer resonated strongly. Their grandfather also had many art books at home. They didn't collect dust on the shelf. Both brothers were fascinated by the multitude of styles. They accumulated much knowledge. As teenagers, they were already familiar with Belgian painters such as Laermans, Ensor, Permeke and Delvaux. They are happy to pass on that love to a broad audience.
That is why they developed a unique format in which visitors are immersed for exactly one hour in carefully selected masterworks ranging from naturalism to surrealism. Works from museums and private collections.
Each edition of 'Het Kunstuur' consists of a small-scale exhibition with 30 masterworks. Every 20 minutes, a maximum of 6 people can enjoy an intimate experience. The visitor is guided to understand the works, to know the background. With a headset on, it is as if you are being addressed personally. For this project, director Franck Van Laecke and composer Dirk Brossé are also involved, who stage the whole thing in a striking way and provide an atmospheric soundscape.
Everything fits together perfectly. Each painting is linked to a person who has a strong affinity with it. These were usually well-known Flemish figures, but in Het Kunstuur 6 some young people also participate, who with an associative and memorable story give the respective painting even more depth.
Rich and poor
These two extremes are strongly highlighted in this exhibition. The 19th century is also called the masked century. A century with two faces and double morality. Respectability and virtue were the hallmark of the rich, but alongside this, child labor, prostitution, alcoholism and impoverishment flourished. This clash is visible in works by Frits Van den Berghe, Alfred Stevens, Eugène Verdyen, Kurt Peiser, James Ensor, Gustave Van de Woestyne, Alfred Cluysenaar, Edgar Tytgat, Jacob Smits, Jules Schmalzigaug, Louise De Hem, Pierre Jacques Dierckx, Constant Permeke, Jan Verhas, Louis Dubois, George Morren, Emile Claus, Jean Brusselmans, Gustave De Smet, Paul Delvaux, Marcel Stobbaerts.
These artworks are framed in an authentic way by a UNICEF ambassador, a professor, a writer, an influencer, a KMSKA employee, a criminal defense lawyer, a cartoonist, a cleaning woman, a climate activist, media figures, cycling champions, journalists, refugees with stories that each leave a lasting impression. Het Kunstuur 6, a beautiful world to discover.