Prominent creators have voiced strong opposition against what they label as an “capricious restructuring” of Belgium’s museum landscape, as the Flanders government seek to cut public spending by dismantling the nation’s most historic modern art institution and relocating its complete holdings to another city.
Leaders Condemn ‘Flagrant Illegalities’ in Museum Overhaul
At a Tuesday briefing in Antwerp, the directors of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA), established in 1985, denounced what they called the “flagrant illegalities” of the cultural institution reorganization, a move due to be discussed in the national legislature this Friday.
“Antwerp is the largest city in Flanders, with a legacy as a hub of the cutting-edge in Belgium,” stated renowned painter Luc Tuymans, an Antwerp resident painter widely seen as Belgium’s foremost contemporary creator.
“To degrade a cultural institution to an arts centre is simply insane. You cannot simply move a collection of pieces and transfer it into another ecosystem, because such an ecosystem does not exist,” he added.
Surprise Move Cancels New Building, Moves Holdings
In last autumn, the culture minister of the Flanders region scrapped the proposed development of a specially designed €80m high-rise building to house the institution, and announced plans to move its collection of some 8,000 pieces to Ghent’s Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Smak). This unexpected decision will effectively strip the Antwerp institution of its official museum designation.
The Antwerp museum’s collection features pieces by globally renowned creators such as Kerry James Marshall, Anish Kapoor and Marina Abramović.
“I cannot accept that they might be removed from M HKA or otherwise put at risk as part of any structural reshuffling,” stated artist Anish Kapoor in a message to the culture ministry.
Budget Pressures Drive Cost-Cutting in Arts Sector
Belgium faces a budget deficit of 5.4% of GDP, one of the largest in the eurozone. The arts sector specifically is facing significant reductions, with austerity measures also implying an unclear fate for the new Brussels Kanal museum.
Under the proposals of Flanders’ socialist culture minister, the museum landscape would be consolidated so that art collections in the region are concentrated at three flagship institutions for historical, modern and contemporary art.
The region boasts a multitude of modern art institutions: besides M HKA in Antwerp and Smak in Ghent, there is the Bruges museums in Bruges and Museum M in Leuven.
Financial Inspectorate Questions Savings Rationale
Whether the proposed shake-up would truly reduce expenses has been challenged by Belgium’s financial inspectorate. In a memorandum sent to Gennez in October, it gave an unfavourable opinion on the proposals, indicating their impact on the budget would be “fragmentary”.
Although transplanting the museum’s permanent collection could cut running expenses from around €8m to €5m, it is believed that going forward the Antwerp museum would have to spend money to loan artworks or purchase touring shows to draw audiences.
The Smak museum in Ghent, situated roughly an hour’s train ride from the Antwerp museum, is also thought to currently not have enough space to properly house M HKA’s collection, and would need investment to expand its storage capacity.