The EIB does not have a dedicated public exhibition space, but shares its cultural assets with the public by regularly curating external exhibitions of its collection throughout landmark European cultural venues. Previous and future exhibitions include:
- Belonging, 2022, multi-site exhibition, Limerick, Ireland
- Beyond Borders, 2018 - 2019, Boghossian Foundation – Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium
- EuroScope, 2015 – 2016, Cercle Cité, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
- Within/Beyond Borders, 2014, Museu do Dinheiro - Banco de Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
- Within/Beyond Borders, 2011, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece
The EIB Collection is open to the public upon request.
https://institute.eib.org/programmes/arts/art-collection
Launch year:
1958
Number of artworks:
Around 1000 works of art, including around 800 contemporary artworks
Status of collection:
International
Artistic domain:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has an art collection of some 1000 works ranging across all media: paintings, photographs, works on paper, sculptures, installations, media-based art and site-specific commissions. The collection consists mostly of European contemporary art and is complemented by Old Masters, 19th century and modern pieces acquired prior to the establishment of a collecting policy focused solely on European contemporary art in the 1990s.
The collecting policy requires works of art to have been produced after 1958, by an artist alive at the time of acquisition who comes from one of the EU Member States or candidate countries. Art acquisitions are subject to a rigorous process of selection, under the guidance of an Arts Committee and with the assistance of industry experts. The guiding philosophy of the EIB art collection is to respond keenly to strategic developments in the EIB and the EU. Through its distinctive collecting policy, it provides a living testament to the construction/deployment and questioning of Europe and a forward-looking window on emerging talent.
The development of the collection remains a continuous process of renewal, reflecting the changing European landscape from the point of view of European artists. In recent years, efforts have been made to develop different means of sourcing work from newly established artists as well as to ensure more diversity and inclusion in the collection.
Commission program / Site-specific order(s) :
Jaume Plensa, BORN-DIE, 1999
Tamás Trombitás, Letters, 1999
Magdalena Jetelová, Chair, 2000
Michael Craig-Martin, Parade, 2005-2008
Michael Craig-Martin, One World, 2005-2008
Tobias Rehberger, 283 Individual Works on Paper, 2008
Artists Development Programme (ADP) - A premier talent accelerator for emerging EU talent
As the EIB Group’s flagship Arts and Culture initiative, the ADP echoes its investment in Europe’s knowledge economy. It amplifies the Bank’s efforts to support innovation by offering the next generation of European artists the opportunity to develop their practice in a high-quality professional setting, under the mentorship of an internationally-acclaimed artist.
More than just a residency scheme, the ADP also serves as a living laboratory for examining the most pressing issues of today – climate change, global economies, migration, diversity, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine – through the lens of art. Works acquired from ADP artists after their residency have greatly enriched the EIB art collection; and the socio-political commentary they often contain sparks reflection and discussions on many of the EIB’s values and strategic priorities.
Over the past 10 years, the ADP has propelled the careers of artists who have gone on to exhibit at some of the world’s most prestigious arts institutions (such as Tate Britain), and receive recognition from the art world’s most renowned prizes and events (such as the Turner Prize nomination and the Venice Biennale).
Accelerating Young Talent
From April until July, the European Investment Bank presented its latest exhibition, Accelerating Young Talent, which covered the 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions of the Artists Development Programme (ADP), the EIB’s talent accelerator for emerging visual artists. This retrospective exhibition reunited the artists and one of the mentors, Finnish photographer Jorma Puranen, after three years of delays due to the sanitary crisis.
In line with the ADP’s goal of boosting the careers of young artists through mentorship and networking opportunities, a suite of vernissage events targeting important corporate and cultural stakeholders provided much-deserved visibility for these young artists. They were able to present the works produced while in residence, and share what they have been up to since. For many, the ADP was a boost that propelled them to further residency opportunities, research, and exhibitions. Moreover, 15 additional guided tours of Accelerating Young Talent further amplified the artists’ practices among internal and external audiences. This has led to increased corporate buy-in for the ADP, as well as increased awareness for the former laureates amongst political and cultural dignitaries.
Accelerating Young Talent features the works of Liviu Bulea (Romania), Panayiotis Doukanaris (Cyprus), Meta Drcar (Slovenia), Pauline-Rose Dumas (France), Jošt Franko (Slovenia), Alexandra Hunts (Netherlands), Nikolay Karabinovych (Ukraine), Agnieszka Mastalerz (Poland), Elsa Mencagli (Italy/Denmark), Andrej Polukord (Lithuania), Niamh Schmidtke (Ireland/Sweden) and Laure Winants (Belgium).The artists produced work under the mentorship of internationally acclaimed artists Jorma Puranen (2020-2021) and Franco-Italian artist Tatiana Trouvé (2022).
About the company
Launch year:
1958
International presence:
Some 40 offices around the world
Annual revenue:
Not disclosed
Number of employees:
Around 3,000 employees
Profile of the company:
The EIB is the lending arm of the European Union. It is the biggest multilateral financial institution in the world and one of the largest providers of climate finance. It is the only bank owned by and representing the interests of the EU Member States. The EIB provides finance and expertise for sound and sustainable investment projects that contribute to furthering EU policy objectives. More than 90% of the EIB's activity is focused on Europe but it also supports the EU's external and development policies.