The industrial city of Charleroi, located in the Walloon Region of Hainaut, is more than 350 years old. It is, so to say, a child or a teenager, compared to other Belgian cities (Brussels, Bruges, or Liege). Thus, on one hand, it is much better industrially developed than other cities. But on the other hand, it is less rich in terms of cultural heritage. But what can be done if the cultural heritage has not been inherited? The answer is: you can create it!

Getting familiarized with the exposition of the modern art of the BPS22 Museum (by the way, its name is simply its address) you get impressed by both audacity and social responsibility of its architects. In Charleroi, there are no educational institutions where people can get a creative profession. So the museum became responsible for education and enlightenment. In fact, the museum is a platform where people can express their opinions. This place is ready to accept all art types, and it can also help if there is a need for it. Of course, it has its own collection. Although the purchase budget is quite small, the museum has works of the world-recognized contemporary artists: Jan Fabre, Miriam Cahn, Teresa Margolles.

There is no permanent exhibition there, though the foundation has 7000 items. It is changed about 3-4 times a year, and each exhibition is dedicated to a certain acute social topic: women’s rights, rights of sexual minorities, fight against drug addiction, censorship in works of art. At the exhibitions, you can see giant installations rather than the classic canvases in old frames. One small hall is dedicated to mail art and zines. Zines are low-circulation or hand-written editions that are dedicated to a specific topic or a character. Mail art is postal envelopes and stamps painted with various subjects. An envelope becomes a work of art only when it has gone through cancellation, been mailed, and delivered to the recipient.

The BPS22 Museum plays a significant role in a large-scale plan of reconstruction and «recovery» of Charleroi that was accepted by the government. The main aim is to reduce the outflow of the population (especially of young people) from the city and attract tourists who prefer «ancient» Belgian cities. Thus, the museum has to become a real art center, a platform for expressing art opinions, a school for everyone who wants to learn the creative ways of expressing themselves.