About Us

Mission statement

The FiKVA-foundation (Figuratieve Kunst Vandaag) is a non-profit organization based in Antwerp. We are devoted to promoting contemporary realism and figurative arts. Gifted artists worldwide can enjoy our support.
The FiKVA-foundation aims to stimulate and encourage both emerging and well-established figurative artists. The artists of our tribe come from a broad spectrum of artistic backgrounds, practices, geographies and communities. Together we focus on empowering their art career, regardless of their level of commercial success.
The FiKVA-foundation also intends to create public awareness of representational and figurative art. We are committed to encourage interest in talented artists who lack adequate recognition.
Our mission is fine-tuned to recognize, celebrate, uplift, and promote talented figurative and representational artists. We do that by creating greater opportunities and exposure for and general interest in figurative, representational, and realistic arts.

What we offer

Skill-based training & masterclasses (during normal, non-pandemic times)
Curated exhibitions and art events.
Annual award with financial support for both emerging & established artists.
Study-grants to students and emerging artists (from 2023 on).
International conferences & artist-in-residence opportunities (from 2023 on).
Mentoring programs & safe spaces.
Platform for like-minded organizations & individuals.
Partnerships with leading museums, galleries & organizations to share expertise.
Gallery exposure and publishing opportunities
A fast growing community of artists, educators, scholars, curators, art-admirers, collectors and writers - the FiKVA tribe.

Our values

Art education has the power to transform people’s lives: we believe in the value of quality art education that will draw in the next generation of artists - observing, creating, trying out, learning…
We preach art for all: we believe everyone should have access to good-quality education, that's why in the framework of FiKVA-Support, each year, we intend to support as many talented art students as our budget allows.
We believe creating new possibilities for representational artists and empowering them is a necessity: an artist’s career shouldn’t be mortgaged by poverty and precariousness. We are ready to walk the extra mile to create alternative opportunities for artists of all ages, background, and career stage.
We believe in artist-in-residence programs and safe spaces: today we are talking about different spaces - public or private, digital, multi-medial... We will try to explore and/or ``inhabit`` some of them… But first and foremost, we believe, our artists need physical (rural and urban), artist-friendly residency spaces. There they can “slow down” in a safe context and benefit from interacting with one another. They can create a conscious artistic community and at the same time feel free to try out new things, learn and fuel their creative process.
We believe our artists deserve vibrant new venues: yes, we will continue to work with local authorities to ensure that our artists get as much exposure and work opportunities as they possibly can from every FiKVA-event.