M HKA may have chance to continue as museum under culture shake-up
Flanders’ Culture minister may allow Antwerp’s contemporary art museum, M HKA, to continue operating as a museum and receive a guaranteed subsidy, instead of being turned into an arts centre as part of a major redesign of the region’s cultural landscape.
Caroline Gennez of Vooruit announced last year that the site would lose its function as a museum and be turned into an arts centre, as part of a substantial revamp of how Flanders’ museums are managed.
She now wants to work with the M HKA to see whether museum and arts functions with guaranteed subsidies are possible.
“If it were up to me, the plan would not rule out the possibility of M HKA seeking and finding further support for the continuation of one or more museum functions if the participation process showed that the institution could fulfil that function,” she told the Flemish Parliament's Culture Committee on Thursday. “Today, that is not sufficiently the case. But it is also not inconceivable that it will succeed.”
In October 2025, Gennez announced that plans for a new building for the M HKA had been scrapped. A week later, she announced plans for the reform of the museum landscape in Flanders.
The redesign would see museums grouped into three clusters, each anchored by a major institution. The intention is to improve collaboration and internationalisation.
Antwerp’s KMSKA would become the reference point for fine arts, alongside partners such as the Hof van Busleyden Museum in Mechelen and Gaasbeek Castle. S.M.A.K. in Ghent would lead the Contemporary and Contemporary Arts cluster, while Ostend’s Mu.ZEE would become the focal point for Modern Art and Belgian Masters.
The directors of the KMSKA have rejected the proposals, while a legal review commissioned by the M HKA says the plan contains “clear and serious legal flaws”.
#FlandersNewsService | The M HKA in Antwerp © PHOTO LUCID PHOTOGRAPHY
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