The Flemish government’s recent decision to transfer the collections and mission of the M HKA in Antwerp to a new museum in Ghent by 2028 has been sharply criticized by two major museum organizations.
In an October 10 “M HKA Statement of Support,” members of the Museum Watch committee, an initiative of CIMAM (the International Council of Museums and Collections of Modern Art), said they were “deeply concerned by recent news” and that “[t]His government program was based on a faulty administrative logic that viewed collections as accumulations of objects. ”
The letter adds, “It is unexpected that this should happen in Belgium, and especially in Antwerp. Over the past 40 years, M HKA has built on its predecessor founded in 1970 and has earned a well-deserved reputation as an international European museum dedicated to contemporary art. It is known for helping to promote the careers of artists before they are more mature, through first survey exhibitions and for an extremely multipolar and diverse approach.”
In the letter, members of the Museum Watch Committee – which include Zeina Arida, director of the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Mataf, Amanda de la Garza, deputy director of art at the Reina Sofia, and Yu Jin Seng, director of curatorial, research and exhibitions at the National Gallery of Singapore – called on “the Flemish Minister of Culture to find an alternative way to undertake the M HKA of political responsibility, to find a new vision that sees and responds to the value of the museum and its place, a vision in which the museum is not emptied out and turned into a shell just for the sake of the dynamics of the moment. Museum Watch hopes to undo this particular and devastating decision.”
Likewise, L’internationale, the European federation of museums and arts organizations founded in 2009, of which M HKA is one of 13 members, issued a statement in support of the Antwerp-based museum. It also called for the Flemish government’s decision to be overturned, writing that its members were “shocked by the Flemish government’s recent statement” which was made “without consultation with the M HKA leadership or its stakeholders”.
Internationale added that it “further objects to[s] Transparency and details have been lacking so far. How and on what basis was such a radical redrawing of the cultural map of Flanders carried out – consulted with whom – and when was it published? This plan and the way it was announced reflect neither the openness and accountability nor the commitment to good governance that has recently been highlighted as central to Flanders’ cultural policy. ”
In addition to the transfer of its permanent collection, which focuses on Antwerp’s avant-garde scene and its connections to the international art world, the M HKA’s current building will undergo renovations and will then become an arts center offering exhibitions and programs, essentially transforming into an art gallery. (Last week, the Flemish government also scrapped plans for a new building for M HKA, which was expected to cost $151 million.) The CIMAM letter called the change a step backwards, adding that its concerns extended to the fact that it “is being separated from its site-specific collections.”
The CIMAM letter continues: “[M HKA] It has a large collection based on the localized international character of the post-World War II avant-garde, with the port city of Antwerp being a hotbed of artist activity and considered a solid basis for contact with today’s world. Twenty years ago, M HKA was ahead of its time and set its sights on Eurasia. “
The collection includes works by artists who lived and worked in and around Antwerp, such as Marcel Broodthaers, Luc Tuymans, Otobong Nkanga and Laure Prouvost, as well as artists who came to the city to create important works, such as Marlene Dumas, Jimmie Durham, Nicola L. and Gordon Matta-Clark. office baroque (1977) was realized in a five-story building there.
According to Le Internationale , M HKA’s collection has a unique context, “in a city with a rich artistic pedigree set in multiple historical, cultural and geopolitical contexts”. The decision to move it out of Antwerp as a way to centralize the collection into one institution “is diametrically opposed to the Internationale’s insistence on nurturing diverse histories and perspectives through collections and archives. We fundamentally disagree with the idea of a single, unified national collection.”
In its letter, Le Internationale also expressed concerns about “the job security of the institution’s 80 employees” and asked “the Flemish government to clarify how their new plans are commensurate with maintaining the museum’s existing workforce.”
The CIMAM letter states that the M HKA is “one of two Flemish museums in the federal state that has been declared a ‘cultural heritage institution’ by the government in recognition of its mission to work at an international level of excellence.” In making the decision, the Museum Watch Committee believed that this “potentially catastrophic decision… will have an unprecedented impact on Antwerp by denying the M HKA its important cultural, social and economic contribution to the city’s well-being.”
In addition, the Museum Observation Committee noted the goodwill of M HKA Director Bart De Baere, who is currently Secretary General of CIMAM and serves as Chairman of the Museum Observation Committee from 2016 to 2024.
In a statement included in the CIMAM letter, De Bell said: “I am overwhelmed. We live in a democracy and we nominate the people to make decisions for us. It is important to take this seriously. I am actively working to help countries where people are dying from this very cause. At the same time, I am shocked by this decision and its hollowness, so I try to understand how to find a balance between this decision and democratic logic.” At this moment, my colleagues and the artists we serve are my greatest concern. “
Announcing the decision, the Flemish government said its new museum strategy would create three museum “clusters”, each led by a “lighthouse” institution, which would allow them to “grow together into museums as described in ICOM’s new international definition”.
CIMAM’s letter sharply refutes this, stating that “this decision also violates the ICOM museum definition and its code of ethics, to which CIMAM responds and adheres.” The definition, last updated in 2022, defines a museum as “a non-profit permanent institution serving society that studies, collects, preserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage.”
M HKA’s planned closure and collection transfer have caused controversy in the Belgian art world. Following the decision, M HKA board chairman Hermann Debord resigned, reportedly saying, “The decision of the Flemish government to behead M HKA on the advice of the Minister of Culture is crazy. It happened without the involvement of anyone from our side. I consider it a criminal act. I have nothing to say about it.”
Luc Tuymans is reported to have said the same: “I’m angry. We can’t forget that M HKA is Belgium’s first contemporary art museum. The whole neighborhood was built around it. It’s a shame for such an important city as Antwerp.”
