Antiquities, tribal art, ceramics, porcelain, engravings, and tapestries: the Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair (BRAFA) will once again be overflowing with treasures when it opens tomorrow in Tours & Taxis, a former railway depot whose 150,000-square-foot space has become a haven for the arts. BRAFA's 122 participating galleries include representatives of contemporary art, photography, and comics (that most Belgian of all genres). The fair runs through January 29.

This year, the fair welcomes exhibitors from 11 countries, with a large number of Belgian and French dealers, as well as booths from Germany, Switzerland, the U.K., Italy, and Canada — reflecting the reputation of Brussels as a bustling crossroads for all of Europe. For this 57th edition of the fair, 20 percent of the dealers are returning participants.

Established in 1955, BRAFA rethinks itself every year. The need to change is a challenge that all art events face — how does one make an impression on the international fair circuit without losing the local audience? How can a fair remain a fun and friendly event while aiming for quantitative and qualitative growth over the years? BRAFA seems to have solved the puzzle — director Béatrix Bourdon told ARTINFO France that BRAFA has continued to grow over the past year.

While the fair seems to be weathering the recession well, BRAFA is not about to rest on its laurels. The event has been reorganized for its expected 40,000 visitors, and the exhibition space has been completely rethought to create more direct accessibility — something visitors and exhibitors had asked for in the past. For this year's design, Volume Architecture has played with themes of light, time, heaven, and earth. The Byzantine patterns of the rugs were inspired by the floor of the Amiens cathedral, and kites and origami sculptures dangle everywhere.

This year, BRAFA has a royal guest of honor: the King Baudouin Foundation, which will present part of its vast and eclectic collection, which includes 7,000 works of art and six archives. For its 25th anniversary, the Foundation will show some of its marquee pieces, including furniture by Victor Horta, an important Belgian designer from the Art Nouveau movement, whose architectural creations can be found all over Brussels. (Any visitors with enough time on their hands should be sure not to miss Horta's house on rue Américaine.) The King Baudouin Foundation also owns furniture by Jacques Dupuis and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, paintings by James Ensor, watercolors by Félicien Rops, and jewelry by Henry van de Velde, a multi-talented genius who brought Art Nouveau forms into the realm of decorative arts and jewelry design.

BRAFA president Bernard de Leye is honored to have the King Baudouin Foundation participating in the fair. "It's the only [foundation] in Belgium that buys works of art to give them to museums," he told ARTINFO France. "It's a good thing for BRAFA, because the King Baudouin Foundation creates a link between the fair and the museum world."

And what will visitors find this year? Returning Belgian galleries include Didier Claes and De Backker Medieval Art, while decorative arts are represented by Jean-Jacques Dutko and Steinitz, both from Paris. Twentieth-century decorative arts are also in the spotlight with three booths grouped together: Futur Antérieur (Brussels), Yves Gastou (Paris), and Oscar Graf (Paris). It's a great chance to swoon over 1940s furniture, Gien pottery, and unusual objects of all sorts. Tribal art, which is always showcased at BRAFA, is represented by heavy-hitting galleries such as Serge Schoffel and Didier Claes, both of Brussels. (Last year, Claes brought a single object to BRAFA, an 18th-century Congolese fetish sculpture built with nails — it became the talk of the fair and was acquired by a Belgian collector for an undisclosed price.)

As for modern and contemporary art, Whitford Fine Art (of London) is bringing Cubist, Modernist, and Pop works to the fair, while the energetic Guy Pieters returns with the Belgian stars Jan Fabre and Wim Delvoye headlining his booth. There are fewer Old Masters this year, but ceramics and pottery are more visible, led by a carefully selected group of galleries. "All too often, money comes before passion and quality," Bernard de Leye told ARTINFO France. "For me, the true definition of an antiquarian is a man who can hold an object in his hand!" Noticing that porcelain is facing a difficult climate in today's market, he invited five galleries to share an expanded booth. "I think we have set the bar really high," de Leye added. "Our experts are draconian and complete their tasks extremely rigorously, because our reputation is at stake."