The International Art Workshop was founded in the year of the 25th anniversary of Brandes widely renowned mural paintings in 1993.
One of Brandes passionate individuals, Birgit Vinge, came up with the idea of gathering a group of international artists in the city’s old iconic train repair building, which stood empty and abandoned after the major coal adventures during and after World War II. The idea was to invite international artists from all over the world to Brande to spend a couple of weeks creating their art together in the old carriage building. At the same time efforts were made to transform the building into a cultural meeting venue.
Thoughts quickly turned into action and in 1993, the very first edition of the International Art Workshop took place with great success. It became an annually recurring event in Brande.
The carriage building underwent a comprehensive renovation, and in 2006, the doors were opened to Brande’s new art and cultural center. The place was operated as a foundation, meant to generate funds for its operation. Therefore it became financially challenging to continue hosting the International Art Workshop, as the carriage building was rented out for meetings, events, and parties. In 2009, the last edition of the workshop was held in RemisenBrande, marking the end of a great era in Brande.
The village of Gludsted took over and the International Art Workshop was hosted successfully in the village school from 2010 to 2019.
Now the time has come for the workshop to return to Brande as Brande Biennale.