History

Z33 stands for Zuivelmarkt 33, the former site of the Hasselt Beguinage. The Beguine movement reached Hasselt 750 years ago and settled at the present Beguinage site 300 years ago. Since its acquisition by the Province of Limburg in 1938, the site has fulfilled a cultural function in the city centre in a variety of ways.

In 1996, the Provinciaal Museum (Provincial Museum) and the multidisciplinary Centrum voor Kunsten-Begijnhof (Art Centre Beguinage) merged into the Provinciaal Centrum voor Beeldende Kunsten – Begijnhof (PCBK) (Provincial Centre for Fine arts – Beguinage). In 2002 the centre is renamed: from then on Z33 will present both contemporary art and design in thematic projects incorporating other disciplines as well.

In view of this content-related context, it became Z33’s first priority in 2002 to establish and develop comprehensive and multidisciplinary project workings. These were launched in 2002 together with the nr.0 TEST project. Z33 has since then continuously investigated the interrelatedness of the various disciplines.