RITCS (English) | RITCS mission and vision

Artistic development, multidisciplinary collaboration, and dialogue with society take centre stage at RITCS. We strive to create an inspiring environment where diverse voices and perspectives converge, driven by the belief that art must hold significance for others and play an essential role in a dynamic society.

RITCS is a School of Arts that educates students and conducts research in the performing and audiovisual arts. We offer various levels of education: associate degrees, professional, academic, and educational bachelor’s degrees, as well as academic and educational master’s degrees. Within our programmes, different disciplines collaborate together within their artistic practices. Collective and individual artistic development mutually enrich one another. Through its research, RITCS stimulates, deepens, and questions these practices, always guided by a profound sensitivity to and empathy with evolving generations, and in constant dialogue with society.

RITCS thus critically examines its insights into the relevance of art, the significance of media, and the role of pedagogy. These insights are shaped by a strong interconnectedness with a diverse professional field and the specific metropolitan context of Brussels, which naturally broadens our international perspective. Multilingualism is essential to connect with the surrounding contexts of cultural actors, educational programmes, and the hyper-diverse metropolis. We believe this enhances polyphony and broadens our thinking and empathetic abilities.

RITCS provides students with the space to hone their artistic skills and be shaped as individuals through the arts. It offers a place to discover who they are and who they wish to become, what they find important, and how they relate to others and the world. We expect this to be done with an inquisitive and critical mindset. For RITCS, it is crucial that the arts hold significance for others as well. Emotion and disruption, beauty and confrontation, solace and restlessness, diversion and reflection are all vital to a healthy and dynamic society.

Together lecturers and students guide and inspire individual and collective inquiries from diverse backgrounds, practices, and traditions. RITCS strives to provide a respectful and safe environment, fostering a community with a multitude of voices and perspectives. This forms the foundation for an open culture of continuous and stimulating dialogue and feedback. Highly diverse and engaged (co-)creating artists develop and deepen contemporary narratives and artistic languages from a content-driven and relevant perspective.

Students and lecturers are given room for experimentation and exploration. RITCS encourages a playful approach to the medium and to society, firmly rooted in the reality in which students, lecturers, and researchers operate. A playful attitude means that in a creative environment, one does not only think functionally but also finds joy in the process, with full seriousness and purpose.

RITCS strongly promotes the collective aspect of artistic practices that are intrinsic to the disciplines we teach and that transcend individual programmes. Collaboration is key, always with respect for the input and value of each person’s expertise. Within these practices, our education strikes a unique balance between craftsmanship and authorship. All of this takes place within a well-developed and practice-oriented approach.

RITCS programmes have an in-depth understanding of and familiarity with the diverse players in the cultural field with whom we collaborate. RITCS continues to critically question the cultural field and aspires to help shape it. We aim to influence artistic innovation, sustainability, representation and imagery, working conditions, and professional conduct, while contributing to and updating the knowledge built around these themes. RITCS also aspires to be a leader in these areas.