Museum status of Antwerp's M HKA "is not up for debate," says minister

The museum status of the Antwerp Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA) "is not up for debate," Flemish Culture minister Caroline Gennez confirmed on Thursday in the Flemish Parliament. The M HKA will remain a museum even after the current transition process, which runs until 2028.

The M HKA has been at the centre of a months-long controversy. A long-planned new building, requiring a budget of 130 million euros, was scrapped, and the institution had been set to be transformed into an arts centre. Following protests, the minister left the door open for the M HKA to remain a museum earlier this year.

That did not allay all concerns. A group of gallery owners recently issued a formal notice to minister Gennez, demanding that the decisions regarding the M HKA be reversed. Shortly afterwards, they filed a legal summons demanding that the museum retain its status and that construction of the new building be restarted.

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Gennez "regrets" legal proceedings

In a reaction in the Flemish Parliament on Thursday, Gennez confirmed that "the M HKA will remain a museum," and that its museum status will "not be tampered with". The intention, however, is for the M HKA to "develop into an entity with added value for the wider field," the minister added.

Gennez also said she "regrets" the legal proceedings and that her door remains open for consultation, including with the gallery owners. She acknowledges there was a "rocky start," but maintains that the plans for the M HKA fit into the broader "positive narrative" of the reform of the Flemish museum landscape.

The changes at M HKA are part of a broader reform of Flanders' museum landscape. In February, Gennez said a States General will be organised, where the art sector will debate the long-term future of the visual arts in Flanders. A vision paper in which the museums collaborate on a shared future for the Flemish museum landscape should be completed by June.

^{#FlandersNewsService | PHOTO © MAISANT Ludovic / Hemis via AFP}

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