Major reform to give Flemish museums more international appeal
The Flemish museum landscape is being thoroughly redesigned to realise the ambitions of scaling up and internationalisation, announced Flemish culture minister Caroline Gennez on Monday. Notably, the S.M.A.K. in Ghent will become the new Flemish Museum of Contemporary and Current Art and will take over the collection of the M HKA museum in Antwerp. The M HKA will be transformed into an arts centre with space for exhibitions, studios, residencies and workshops.
At the end of last week, the Flemish government announced that it was scrapping the subsidy, of 130 million euros, for a new building for the Antwerp museum of contemporary art M HKA. This decision is part of a major reform of the entire Flemish museum landscape, based on a recent evaluation. The budget freed up by the cancellation of the M HKA’s new building project will be used in part to facilitate this reform.
According to culture minister Caroline Gennez, the most recent evaluation shows that the Flemish museum landscape is fragmented and that the museums are at risk of competing with each other. “Flemish museums can be proud of their collections. But in order to get more out of those collections and realise the ambitions of scaling up and internationalisation, more cooperation is needed,” she stated.
Flemish museums now include the KMSKA and M HKA in Antwerp and Mu.ZEE in Ostend, as well as Gaasbeek Castle and the Roger Raveel Museum. These museums will have to work more closely together. The reform will start in 2026 and should be completed in 2028.
Three clusters
In concrete terms, work will focus on three clusters, each with a kind of “beacon” or reference point. For the “fine arts” cluster, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (KMSKA) in Antwerp will be the central beacon. The KMSKA will have to work more closely with the Hof van Busleyden Museum in Mechelen and Gaasbeek Castle.
The “contemporary and current arts” cluster has the current Ghent Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K.) as its central beacon. The Ghent museum will become a Flemish institution and is set to become the new Flemish museum for contemporary and current art. The collection and museum operations of Antwerp's M HKA will largely move to Ghent, where there have long been plans to renovate and expand the S.M.A.K.’s infrastructure.
In the third cluster, “Modern art and Belgian masters”, Mu.ZEE in Ostend will become the reference point. Mu.ZEE already collaborates with two partner institutions, the Peiremuzee in Knokke and the Permeke Museum in Jabbeke. These will now be joined by the Roger Raveel Museum in Zulte and the FeliX Art+Eco Museum in Drogenbos.
M HKA becomes arts centre
According to minister Gennez, “the M HKA has been struggling with its role as a museum for some time, as confirmed once again by the recent evaluation”. The M HKA will therefore be given a new purpose. The existing location will become an arts centre, with space for exhibitions, studios, residencies and workshops. “A place where Belgian and international artists from all disciplines are welcome to experiment,” explained Gennez.
#FlandersNewsService | The S.M.A.K., the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent © BELGA PHOTO PHILIPPE FRANCOIS
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