Ghent’s Vooruit building submitted for Unesco World Heritage recognition
The Flemish government, arts centre VIERNULVIER and the city of Ghent have submitted a dossier to have the Vooruit building in Ghent recognised as a Unesco World Heritage site.
The iconic building in Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat was added to Belgium’s “tentative list” last year. This list is an inventory of sites that a country thinks may be worthy of World Heritage status in the future. De Vooruit’s candidacy has now been officially submitted to Unesco, which is likely to make a decision in the summer of 2027.
De Vooruit opened in 1913 and is one of the oldest art houses in Belgium. It was built to democratise workers’ leisure activities and grew into an anchor point as a socialist arts centre in pre-World War II Flemish society.
"De Vooruit played an important role in the emancipation of Flemish workers and thus in the story of Flanders"
A year after the Flemish socialist party sp.a changed its name to Vooruit in 2021, the centre was renamed VIERNULVIER. The building continued to be called De Vooruit, however.
In recent years, Flanders has invested 10.8 million euros in the total restoration of the building. It was declared a protected monument in 1983 and later won the Flemish Monument of the Year prize. Today it is used for a range of social, cultural and community events.
“De Vooruit played an important role in the emancipation of Flemish workers and thus in the story of Flanders,” said Ben Weyts, Flemish minister of Immovable Heritage. “It is more than right that it should be recognised as a World Heritage Site. We in Flanders should be a bit more proud of our history and what our ancestors built.”
Flanders, VIERNULVIER, Ghent and UGent worked with partners in Australia and Denmark on the Unesco dossier. The intention is to create a new international world heritage series, all of which will include historic buildings linked to the labour movement.
Heritage in Belgium is a regional competence, but the tentative list and nominations for World Heritage status are managed at the national level.
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE
Related news
