Among the general public, the ten FSI are primarily known because of the Federal Museums which function as a showcase for the Scientific research institutes working in the background.
The Federal Institutions attract a large and varied audience: in 2013 the Federal Museums alone attracted some 1,5 million visitors. If we add the 65.000 visitors to the various State Archives and the 175.000 visitors to the KBR, the sum adds up to 1,8 million visitors per year.
An important part of the service to the public consists in the dissemination of information via internet, publications, congresses, workshops, tv-shows and other media channels. The RMI-website for example attracts no less than 160.000 unique visitors a day! Next to that, the various FSI also regularly open their doors to the public in the context of the monument days, the heritage days and other variants of open days and which attract a lot of interested visitors.
To that, we also need to add the numerous working visits of researchers, students and other specialists and of professionals from Belgium and abroad.
The figure below shows the yearly amount of visitors welcomed by the Federal Museums and the Planetarium during the years 2007-2013. After a minor drop in the visiting numbers in 2011 and 2012, the upward trend from the last couple of years is reinitiated with more than 1,5 million visitors in 2013.
With no less than 662.434 visitors, the Royal Museums for Fine Arts constitute the biggest museum in terms of visitor numbers. Any increase or drop in their visitor numbers will have a manifest impact upon the total amount of visitors to the Federal Museums. The Fine Arts museums are followed by the Royal Museums for Art and History (344.431 visitors) and the Museum for Natural Sciences (334.190 visitors) in terms of most visited institutions. The Royal Museum of Central-Africa and the Planetarium attracted respectively 131.019 and 45.581 visitors in 2013. The Planetarium is clearly the smallest in the row here. Be aware that some of the FSI in fact house a cluster of museums (the RMFAB and the RMAH consisted in 2013 of a cluster of respectively 5 and 4 different museums), whereas others such as the Museum of Natural Sciences consists of only one museum.
If we look now at the figures per individual museum, the conclusion is that there are 3 big, 3 medium-sized and 5 smaller Federal Museums and visitor centres (see graphic underneath).
The big Federal Museums: three Federal Museums annually attract between 250.000 and 350.000 visitors. These are the Museums of Old and modern art, the Magritte Museum and the Museum of Natural Sciences.
The Medium-sized Federal Museums: three Federal Museums attract annually around 150.000 visitors. These are the Cinquantennaire museum, the Royal Museum for Central-Africa and the Musical Instruments Museum.
The small Federal Museums and visitor centres: five Federal Museums attract less than 50.000 visitors a year. The biggest ones here are the Planetarium, the Museums of the Far East (also known as the Japanese Tower and the Chinese Pavilion) and the Hallegate museum. Next to that, there is the smaller art museums displaying the art collections of Antoine Wiertz and Constantin Meunier, which attract less than 5.000 visitors a year.
Since 2008 the Observatory has been conducting the so-called Museummonitor; this is a survey which is carried out among a representative sample of individual visitors (=non-group visitors) of the 6 big and medium-sized museums and the Planetarium : The Fine Arts Museums, the Museum of Natural sciences, the Museum for Central-Africa, the Museum Art & History (Cinquantenaire), the Muscial instruments museum and of course the Planetarium. Based on this monitor, a profile of the museum visitors can be determined. More precise details of the Museummonitor can be consulted in our documentationcentre.
In what follows, we give a brief overview of the most important findings and conclusions:
First timers versus habitue
First timers constitute the majority of the visitors to the Federal Museums
Permanent collection versus exhibition
People mostly visit the Museums to see the permanent collections. Relatively less visitors come especially for a specific exhibition.
Highly skilled visitors
The Federal Museums attract mostly highly skilled visitors: around 80% of the visitors have a post-secundary or a university degree. The Scientific museums (Natural sciences and the Planetarium) attract relatively more low-skilled visitors than the art and history museums.
Experienced Museum-goers
Most visitors are experienced Museum-goers who relatively often (at least 3 times a year) visit another museum or exhibition.
A relatively local public
If we only look at the Belgian visitors, it becomes clear that the Federal Museums attract a relatively local audience: mostly visitors from Brussels and nearby Flemish-Brabant.
Relatively good appreciation
On average, visitors, give a score of 8/10 when asked to rate their visit to the museum. We can say that the general appreciation of the public towards the Federal Museums is relatively good.
Adult visitors versus adults accompanied by children
The art and history museums (Magritte, Fine Arts, Musical Instruments Museum) are more often visited by adults, whereas the “Science Museums” (Natural Sciences, Planetarium, Africamuseum) are more often visited by families with (smaller) children.
Belgian verus foreign visitors
Magritte, MIM and –to a lesser extent- also the Fine Arts Museums attract a majority of foreign visitors, whereas the Museum of Natural Sciences, the Africamuseum, the Planetarium and the Museum Art & History (Cinquantenaire) attract mostly Belgian visitors.
