Grand reopening KMSKA after 11 years of renovation

On 25 September 2022, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) will reopen its doors to the public after eleven years of construction and renovation. Today, The Baptism of Christ by Peter Paul Rubens is the first painting to be mounted in its exhibition halls.

Now, everything will be falling into place. We will finally see how the art and the renovated building interact,” says Carmen Willems, general director of the KMSKA. The reinstallation of the works will be done in phases and according to a strict plan. An outstanding selection of 650 works of art from the total collection of some 8,400 pieces will soon be on display. 130 paintings and sculptures have been restored.The works that are not exhibited are made accessible by the KMSKA via the digital collection catalogue on the website.

The museum may have been closed to the public but during the renovations, almost 4,000 works of art have travelled around the world. Now "the Flemish Masters are returning home at last,” says Luk Lemmens, chairman of KMSKA vzw.“Thanks to the intense cooperation with museums worldwide, our works of art have been admired by no fewer than 6.7 million visitors over the past eleven years. We are nevertheless pleased that we can now finally display them again in our museum.

The opening of the KMSKA is made possible thanks to the support of the Flemish authorities and the city of Antwerp. "The work on the museum was challenging and complicated. And not just the renovation. All technical functions had to be sufficiently tested before the art could be displayed again. The climate control system now meets all requirements. The KMSKA and the Flemish authorities are now preparing for the long-awaited reopening,” says Jan Jambon, Minister-President of the Flemish Government.