In addition to the collection, the bank is regularly involved in the organisation of exhibitions. For over 40 years now, the bank has been staging exhibitions in its Brussels buildings, both at its headquarters on Avenue Marnix or at the Hotel Coudenberg on Place Royale (the ING Cultural Centre).

In times gone by, banks organising exhibitions was very much the done thing, something practiced by all of the leading institutions. Our bank's enduring commitment to organising exhibitions today reflects two quite specific objectives:

Firstly, to honour our sense of civic duty by helping to support and promote cultural values. The bank's active support of the arts stretches back more than 30 years.

Secondly, to use the exhibitions as a platform for enhancing the commercial objectives of the bank, by hosting visits and social events for its clients.

Since ING became involved, the choice of themes for the exhibitions has evolved. The bank has moved on from resolutely contemporary and avant-garde shows, that would appeal to a few thousand visitors, to exhibitions of a more classical nature, which draw visitors in the tens of thousands. In other words, the principle of art for art's sake has given way to a more pragmatic approach to exhibitions, based on a desire to reach out to a wider audience.

Latterly, the bank's artistic endeavours have been expanded through the support that the bank lends to events such as « Artbrussels »,, the contemporary art fair in Brussels, and « Prix de la Jeune Peinture » (The Young Artist's Prize), which is awarded every two years to a handful of talented young artists.