It is a home for authors: it is their home! MEDAA, the Maison européenne des Autrices et des Auteurs, is located in Rue Royale Prince 85/87 in Ixelles close to the European Quarter and Institutions.
It was inaugurated on 17 March 2018 on the initiative of SACD and Scam and has since welcomed authors who are members of the SACD, Scam, Authors and SOFAM copyright management companies, as well as Belgian professional organisations such as ASA, PRO SPERE, ARRF, PEN Club, PILEn, SAGEL and European organisations such as SAA, CEATL, IFFRO and FERA that support authors and defend their rights.
For authors, of course, but also for culture and copyright professionals in the broadest sense.
For professional associations in the literary and audiovisual sector, the performing arts, radio and multimedia, both Belgian and international. MEDAA rents spaces for general meetings and events concerning artistic professions and activities. Offices are also available for professional associations.
Authors: here are renovated spaces for you to work and train. Take a seat in the coworking space or book a meeting room for meetings with your collaborators, publishers, producers, etc.
Keep up to date with what's going on in the Maison: training courses, workshops and seminars are organised regularly!!
During events organised at MEDAA House, authors can meet and discuss experiences and projects. Share what fascinates you and what drives you with your colleagues in the café (next to the reception), at a table over a cup of liquid fuel, black or with milk, with or without sugar.
MEDAA is the place for the necessary mobilisation of the cultural sector. Because it is the place where the community of authors comes together, and because we know that together, our voices carry more weight.
Keep up to date with what's changing in your statutes, your rights and the realities of your professional activities at MEDAA.
The architect in charge of the renovation project is Jean-Paul Hermant.
He placed particular emphasis on simple lines, light and circulation. The Café is the convivial nerve centre of the Maison, serving as an entrance, a hub and a management point for the different areas. Jean-Paul Hermant has transformed the carriage entrance to improve the link between the two buildings, and bay windows have been installed on both sides of this axis. Around the patio, he imagined a green cloister inspiring calm and reflection, conducive to work and providing light and transparency to all the connected areas: the coworking spaces, the work cubicles, the meeting rooms, the Café and the terrace.
Work began in spring 2016 and lasted over two years under his supervision, in collaboration with the general construction company Dereymaeker.
But what money was used to build the new Maison? In other words: did we use authors' money to renovate these buildings? Well, no. The project was and is financed entirely by income generated by renting spaces specially designed to host small, medium and large events in optimal conditions, in pleasant surroundings entirely tailored to the cultural sector.
Rental fees are the backbone of this project: be welcome!
The work revealed a whole host of more or less funny things!
When the false ceiling of the old carriage entrance was demolished, old mouldings revealed their existence and are now on show.
A surprising discovery was also made in the summer of 2016: an 18-metre-deep well, sturdily built and in working order, was uncovered in the Travelling room -- and has since been covered over. No need to worry.
