This is the story of a Brussels-based company that designs the capital’s most impressive cultural tours. Run as a family business, Tempora brings its expertise to all four corners of the globe. We take a look inside this family-run Brussels-based company, a member of Beci, which is a source of pride for our economic fabric.
You only have to step through the door of their Brussels offices to realise that this is no ordinary company. Here, in the workshops, set pieces, structures being fine-tuned and technological prototypes are piled high. You’ll come across joiners, electrical engineers and museum designers bustling about in a hive of creative activity. Tempora is the name behind the capital’s major cultural successes, from the Pompeii exhibition at Tour et Taxis to the most popular artistic tributes.
Founded by Benoît Remiche, who now runs the company alongside his sons Raphaël and Marc, this Belgian cultural organisation has managed to preserve its spirit of camaraderie whilst becoming a leading player in its field. It is a local entrepreneurial success story of which Brussels can be proud, and one that demonstrates that, when it comes to culture, professionalism does not preclude human values.
A story of legacy and independence
This adventure began with a somewhat ambitious project: to create a Museum of Europe in Brussels. Driven by an association and a group of passionate individuals, the idea struggled to find a permanent home. Undeterred, the team decided to bring the concept to life through temporary and travelling exhibitions. The ball was set rolling, and a new business was born. Very quickly, Tempora secured its first public sector contracts, notably for visitor centres and museums, before taking a major turn in 2014 by taking over the direct management of exhibition venues.
This decision to pursue vertical integration is one of the company’s key strengths. Unlike many competitors who entrust their projects to networks of subcontractors, the Remiche family has opted to keep everything in-house. “Many business models in our sector rely on lean structures of two or three people who call on freelancers,” explains Raphaël Remiche. “For our part, we wanted to bring all the skills in-house – from fitters to engineers and set designers – to build genuine in-house expertise. It’s a corporate vision: we want to build things together, and even in the toughest times, it’s this sense of community that gives us purpose and keeps us moving forward. ” In the face of uncertainty, the team sticks together, driven by the desire to build a solid industrial and cultural legacy.
The challenge of engaging the public and bold choices
Tempora’s work is a delicate balancing act: it involves striking a balance between scientific rigour and accessibility for the general public. The organisation does not rely on grants; its business model is based primarily on ticket sales and ancillary revenue such as shop sales. This reality demands absolute financial discipline. Creating an exhibition requires significant financial investment in terms of time, staff and logistics. It is a technical undertaking where every detail counts, from the choice of projectors to the spatial design of the exhibition space.
This independence offers great cultural freedom, but it comes with its own set of risks. The exhibition market is highly competitive and sometimes unpredictable, as evidenced by the regular friction between international producers or unexpected changes to schedules. However, the experience gained now enables Tempora to engage on an equal footing with the world’s leading institutions, which no longer hesitate to entrust their collections to these Brussels-based experts. This recognition goes hand in hand with a shift towards increasingly stringent financial and environmental criteria.
“Creating content from scratch costs a huge amount of cash. We’ve become much stricter in our financial approach,” says Marc Remiche. “Previously, the desire to carry out a project would sometimes override caution, but experience has made us more rigorous. Development costs and technical equipment remain very high, which leaves no room for improvisation,” continues his brother.
From Brussels to the rest of the world
Whilst Tempora carries out a significant proportion of its business in Brussels, the company has become a formidable showcase for the Region’s export sector. Its products are shipped to Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg, as well as to London, Spain and as far afield as Boston in the United States. This international reach is underpinned by a variety of collaboration models, ranging from long-term concessions to the hire of turnkey concepts.
Against a backdrop of dwindling public support for culture across Europe, local authorities and foreign institutions are turning to this private-sector model, which offers efficiency, creativity and genuine control over the visitor experience. “We are witnessing a global decline in public funding for culture,” says Raphaël Remiche. “Public authorities are realising that they need to partner with private operators who have a firm grasp of these key aspects and know how to optimise the visitor experience.”
Nevertheless, Tempora’s heart remains deeply rooted in Brussels. So yes, the local market is demanding, the range of options is vast, and the public is spoilt for choice. But that is precisely what drives the Remiche family to excel. Brussels remains their home base and their greatest source of pride. A truly local company that proves, exhibition after exhibition, that Brussels’ cultural genius is a huge export success.
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