Gilliot & Roelants Tegelmuseum

About the museum

The Gilliot & Roelants Tegelmuseum in Hemiksem keeps alive the memory of the tile factory Gilliot & Cie, which was founded at the end of the nineteenth century close to the Sint-Bernardusabdij and for a long time was the largest tile producer on the European mainland. Many of the designs came from Joseph Roelants, who settled in Hemiksem in 1919 and headed the decoration studio there. The factory became a global player and had its own pavilion at world exhibitions, but from the 1960s it ran into difficulties and stopped production at the end of the 1970s.

Ten years after the closure, in 1988, the then Roelantsmuseum opened in the Sint-Bernardusabdij. In two rooms, tile panels and other material that had been rescued from the factory buildings were shown, with the emphasis on Roelants. From 2009 the museum broadened its activities and was renamed Gilliot & Roelants Tegelmuseum. In 2016 the collection of Roberto Pozzo was added, more than 9,000 tiles which he donated to the King Baudouin Foundation, and in 2019 a new museum wing opened.

The museum collection consists of the historical collection in the original rooms, the Pozzo collection and donations of tiles and panels. In the new Verwilghen room, production after 1945 has a permanent place, so that the museum becomes a journey through 80 years of tile production in Hemiksem. The museum is the only specialised tile museum in Belgium and admission is free.

Highlights

• Historical collection with panels by Joseph Roelants from the factory showroom
• Pozzo collection with more than 9,000 tiles, a third of them from the Gilliot workshops
• Art Nouveau and Art Deco tiles by Gilliot & Cie
• New Verwilghen room with a monumental fountain from the 1960s
• Free admission in a historic abbey

Permanent exhibitions

• Historische collectie – The original rooms of the museum contain tile panels that were rescued from the factory showroom after the closure, most of them designed by Joseph Roelants.
• Pozzo-collectie – The Roberto Pozzo collection comprises more than 9,000 tiles, about a third of which were made in the workshops of Gilliot & Cie; it is owned by the King Baudouin Foundation.

Founded

1988

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the museum is free.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

The museum is housed in the Sint-Bernardusabdij in Hemiksem.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

In the museum shop you can buy brochures, books about tiles and original house numbers by Gilliot.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit