Flemish government scraps new building project M HKA museum in Antwerp
The Flemish government has decided to scrap the new building project for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (M HKA). The planned new high-rise building in Antwerp's Zuidpark, requiring a budget of 130 million euros, will not be built.
The M HKA has been looking for a new home for many years, as the current building, a stone's throw from where the new one was to be built, is too small and was also considered too uninviting.
The first feasibility study for the new museum building dates back to 2016, almost ten years ago. That study was followed by an aborted architecture competition in 2020. In 2023, a new competition was organised, with six design teams reaching the final. In February this year, the Belgian firm Bovenbouw Architectuur, together with the Swiss firm Christ & Gantenbein, was chosen.
“130 million euros is a huge amount of money and an enormous responsibility"
But the new home for the museum will not be built after all. Culture minister Caroline Gennez referred to the “difficult budgetary context” and “rising construction costs”, but also to the faltering performance of the M HKA. According to her, it is currently “insufficiently strong”. She bases this on a recent evaluation of the museum's performance.
“130 million euros is a huge amount of money and an enormous responsibility. As a government, we must ensure that taxpayers' money is well spent,” stated Gennez. According to the minister, the decision creates the necessary space “to thoroughly rethink the museum landscape in Flanders and raise it to a higher level”.
The minister will provide more details about the redesign of the Flemish museum landscape next Monday, but the intention is to return the freed-up budget to culture, and in particular to the Antwerp cultural sector. Amongst others the KMSKA museum and the Antwerp Opera will be “strengthened”. The renovation of the Bourla Theatre and the first improvements to the current M HKA building will also be made possible with the freed-up funding.
In addition, extra investments will be made in the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (KMDA) – which manages the Antwerp Zoo – and the Flanders Meeting & Convention Centre.
Minister Gennez underlined that she is confident that the M HKA will continue to play a role in the reformed museum landscape and, according to her, job security is also provided for the staff.
#FlandersNewsService | The M HKA museum in Antwerp © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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