The Brussels Jewish Museum. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

The Jewish Museum in Brussels will host the 10th edition of the Accessible Art Fair from September 22-25.

“Our art fair aims at shedding a fresh light on the city by bringing emerging and mid career artists to this fantastic location before its demolition and rebuilding in 2017,” Stephanie Manasseh, CEO and chief curator of the fair, told artnet News in an email. “The entire ethos of this fair is to make these artists accessible to the visitors.”

Rod McIntosh, Caught (2016). Photo courtesy of the artist and Accessible Art Fair.

With locations in Brussels and New York, the Accessible Art Fair cuts out the gallery—the art world’s traditional middle man—in order to give collectors the opportunity to meet and acquire works directly from the artist.

On the other hand, the unique fair model also aims to give artists without a gallery a platform to gain access to an audience and potential buyers.

The participating artists, however, undergo a strict vetting process overseen by a panel of experts.

At the Accessible Art Fair artists sell directly to collectors. Photo: courtesy the Accessible Art Fair.

“We are so pleased to host the event at the Musée Juif [Jewish Museum] in the Sabon this year,” Manasseh continued. “Our motto is to hold our events in special venues across the city and the museum is offering us a superb platform in which to present our selection of top and emerging artists.”

The historic museum was targeted in an anti-Semitic attack in May 2014 which claimed four lives. The museum remained closed for three-and-a-half months after the radical Islamist gunman carried out the shooting and finally reopened in September 2014 with increased security checks.

A Memorial outside The Jewish Museum, Brussels after the shooting on May 24. Photo Virginia Mayo, courtesy the Associated Press.

Hosting the Accessible Art Fair at the venerable venue sends a significant message that art can help overcome differences and religious intolerance, especially in the context of the recent Brussels bombings in March of this year which left the city—and its cultural institutions—in lockdown.