# Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage

> Federal Scientific Institute in Brussels, Belgium

**Wikidata**: [Q2235462](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2235462)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Institute_for_Cultural_Heritage)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/royal-institute-for-cultural-heritage

## Summary
The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (Dutch: Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium; French: Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique), commonly known as KIK-IRPA, is a Belgian federal scientific institute and research institute based in the City of Brussels that works in the field of cultural heritage. It was established on 17 August 1957 and functions as a federal scientific service under Belgian administration.

## Key Facts
- The institute was founded (inception) on 1957-08-17.  
- Official names: Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique (French) and Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium (Dutch).  
- Instance of: Federal Scientific Institute and research institute; legal form: Other federal services.  
- Field of work: cultural heritage.  
- Headquarters and street address: Parc du Cinquantenaire 1 / Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels (City of Brussels); coordinates 50.842524050054934, 4.393475207782937.  
- Short names and aliases: KIK-IRPA, KIK, IRPA, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium, Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique.  
- Replaces: Central Iconographic Archives of National Art and Central Laboratory of the Museums of Belgium.  
- Contact: phone +32-27-39-67-11; fax +32-27-32-01-05; email info@kikirpa.be; website http://www.kikirpa.be/ (French, Dutch, English).  
- Key identifiers: ISIL BE-A2003; ROR 01phtp995; GRID grid.497591.7; ISNI 0000000121735565 (and 0000000085569503); VIAF 142972427; Ringgold 194936.

## FAQs
### Q: What is the primary purpose of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage?
A: The institute is a federal scientific institute and research institute whose stated field of work is cultural heritage. It functions within Belgium’s federal services structure to support research related to cultural heritage.

### Q: Where is the institute located and how can I contact it?
A: The institute’s headquarters are at Parc du Cinquantenaire 1 / Jubelpark 1, 1000 Brussels, City of Brussels (coordinates 50.842524050054934, 4.393475207782937). Phone: +32-27-39-67-11; fax: +32-27-32-01-05; email: info@kikirpa.be; website: http://www.kikirpa.be/.

### Q: When was the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage established?
A: The institute’s inception date is 17 August 1957.

### Q: Who leads the institute?
A: As of the available data, Hilde De Clercq is listed as the director/manager (preferred) with a start time in 2017; previous directors include Christina Ceulemans (ended 2017) and Paul B. Coremans (ended 1965).

## Why It Matters
The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage serves as Belgium’s federal scientific body dedicated to the study and research of cultural heritage. As an institutional node combining research status with federal service, it centralizes national expertise, identifiers, and institutional continuity for heritage work in Belgium. The institute’s creation in 1957 and its formal replacement of the Central Iconographic Archives of National Art and the Central Laboratory of the Museums of Belgium indicate a consolidation of national heritage resources and functions under one federal scientific institute. Its multilingual website (French, Dutch, English) and multiple international identifiers (ISIL, ROR, GRID, ISNI, VIAF, Ringgold) facilitate international collaboration, data interoperability, and discoverability for researchers, museums, and cultural organizations. The institute’s presence in Open GLAM survey datasets and its maintenance by Wiki project Belgian museums further show its role in public access, documentation, and institutional transparency within heritage and open cultural data ecosystems. For anyone working with Belgian cultural collections or researching heritage science in Belgium, this institute is a primary institutional reference point.

## Notable For
- Being a Belgian federal scientific institute (instance_of) explicitly focused on cultural heritage and research.  
- Established on 17 August 1957 and formally replacing the Central Iconographic Archives of National Art and the Central Laboratory of the Museums of Belgium.  
- Strong identifier footprint (ISIL BE-A2003; ROR 01phtp995; GRID grid.497591.7; ISNI; VIAF) supporting international data linking.  
- Multilingual official presence and public contact channels (website in French, Dutch, English; phone, fax, email).  
- Active presence in Open GLAM surveys and listed in multiple cultural and bibliographic authority systems.

## Body

### Overview
- Official names:
  - Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique (French)
  - Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium (Dutch)
  - Also referenced as Königliches Institut für das Kunsterbe (German variant listed)
- Common short names: KIK, IRPA, KIK-IRPA.
- Instance of: Federal Scientific Institute; research institute.
- Field of work: cultural heritage.

### Legal status and governance
- Legal form: Other federal services (Belgium).
- Enterprise number (Belgium): 0356463617.
- Headquarters / located in: City of Brussels.

### History
- Inception date: 1957-08-17.
- Replaces: Central Iconographic Archives of National Art and Central Laboratory of the Museums of Belgium.
- Notable historical leadership entries include Paul B. Coremans (director, end_time 1965) and Christina Ceulemans (director, end_time 2017).

### Location and contact details
- Street address: Parc du Cinquantenaire 1 / Jubelpark 1, 1000 Bruxelles / Brussel, Belgium.
- Coordinates: latitude 50.842524050054934, longitude 4.393475207782937.
- Phone number: +32-27-39-67-11.
- Fax number: +32-27-32-01-05.
- Email: mailto:info@kikirpa.be.
- Website: http://www.kikirpa.be/ (available in French, Dutch, English).

### Identifiers and external profiles
- ISIL: BE-A2003.
- ROR: 01phtp995.
- GRID: grid.497591.7.
- ISNI: 0000000121735565 and 0000000085569503.
- VIAF: 142972427.
- Ringgold: 194936.
- Freebase ID: /m/03qlh74.
- Other identifiers: advn_id org-002426; cantic_id 981058516801606706; hal_structure_id 225161; SBN author ID UFIV027267; opencorporates ID be/0356463617; library of congress authority ID n50056942, and multiple national library identifiers.

### Activities and data presence
- Field of work explicitly listed as cultural heritage.
- Described by Open GLAM Survey with multiple point-in-time entries (2022-03-01, 2023-06-27, 2023-07-02, 2024-05-16), indicating participation in open cultural data surveys.
- Commons institution page: Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage.
- Maintained by Wiki project: Wiki project belgian museums.

### Leadership
- Director / manager (preferred): Hilde De Clercq (start_time 2017).
- Previous directors listed: Christina Ceulemans (ended 2017) and Paul B. Coremans (ended 1965).

### Online and social media presence
- Website: http://www.kikirpa.be/ (French, Dutch, English).
- Twitter handle: @kikirpabe.
- Instagram: kikirpa.be.
- YouTube handle/channel: kik-irpa; channel ID UCNwiWVS1wRgkLXEYFtUc_DQ.
- LinkedIn ID: kik-irpa.
- Facebook pages (Dutch and French variants listed with page identifiers).

### Cataloguing and library data
- Sitelink count: 9.
- Commons category: KIK-IRPA.
- Wikipedia title: Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage.
- Listed in multiple national and international authority files and scholarly databases (see Identifiers).

(End of entry.)

## References

1. [Wiki Loves Monuments monuments database. 2017](https://tools.wmflabs.org/heritage/api/api.php?action=search&format=json&srcountry=be-bru&srlanguage=nl&srid=2043-0771/0)
2. [Source](https://erfgoedkaart.be/?id=8882)
3. Virtual International Authority File
4. Czech National Authority Database
5. GRID Release 2018-06-25
6. Crossroad Bank of Enterprises
7. [Open GLAM Survey, version of 17 February 2022](https://archive.org/details/OpenGLAM_Survey_20220217)
8. [Source](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WPS-KJptUJ-o8SXtg00llcxq0IKJu8eO6Ege_GrLaNc)
9. [Open GLAM Survey, version of 27 June 2023](https://archive.org/details/open-glam-survey-backup-20230627)
10. [Open GLAM Survey, version of 16 May 2024](https://archive.org/details/open-glam-survey-backup-20240516)
11. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
12. [Source](https://www.govdirectory.org/belgium/)
13. HAL
14. [Source](http://data.advn.be/id)