MUSEUM AT RISK
Save the MUSEUM

Antwerp art sector takes the Flemish Community to court over the future of M HKA

24 September 2026 - 9:14 am – Press release

Seven Antwerp galleries and two arts organisations have taken the Flemish Community to court over the handling of the M HKA and the cancellation of the planned new building without any justification.

PRESS RELEASE

Antwerp, 24 September 2026

Wanted: management team for the M HKA, a museum in the process of being wound up.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday 22 September 2026, a press release appeared on the website of the M HKA regarding shared leadership within a new management structure. The board has announced that the vacancies for the posts of ‘Director-General’ and ‘Artistic Director’ are now open.

The M HKA’s governing body wishes to further strengthen the museum’s position in Flanders and internationally and, to this end, has announced a not-so-new management structure for the museum: a director-general and an artistic director who, together, are to shape the future of the museum. This involves filling the existing roles previously held by former Director-General Bart De Baere and outgoing Artistic Director Nav Haq. What the announcement fails to mention is the dubious future scenario that the Flemish government – with the full cooperation of the current M HKA board – is rolling out today.

After all, anyone who carefully examines the Flemish Government’s actions side by side will see anything but a scenario for a strong museum of contemporary art in Antwerp.

A museum ‘based on its status as a museum’

On 3 October 2025, the Flemish Government decided in a draft memorandum that the collection and the museum operations of the M HKA would be transferred to a new Flemish museum for contemporary art in Ghent. The M HKA would be given a ‘different remit’, that of an arts centre, a venue without a collection. Following fierce protest from the sector, the Minister responsible, Gennez, backtracked and announced that the M HKA may remain a museum. She did not specify for how long, nor under what conditions. In other words, the M HKA is operating in a legal vacuum, all the more so as the minister’s strategic vision document states that the heritage decree is still being amended during this legislative term and it is far from clear what the outcome will be.

On 22 May 2026, the Flemish Community concluded a cooperation agreement with the M HKA, which runs until 31 December 2028. During that period, it is subjecting the museum to a ‘transition process’, the outcome of which is far from clear. Ghent’s S.M.A.K. is, in the same move, explicitly designated as the new Flemish museum. The M HKA – which held that role until October 2025 – is now described by its supervisory authority merely as an institution that ‘builds upon’ its museum status. Building upon a status is not the same as retaining that status. The M HKA board cannot, therefore, offer the newly appointed management any guarantee whatsoever that they will indeed be leading a museum in the future, let alone a major international player in the field.

130 million euros, ten years of preparation, one decision

The new building for the M HKA on the Zuiderdokken was not a vague intention. It was the result of a thorough analysis of the infrastructural requirements for optimal museum operations. It was a firm policy decision, ten years in the making, with a project budget of 130 million euros, a designated architect and a role as the final piece in the redevelopment of the Antwerp quays. Upon taking office, Minister Gennez described the new M HKA building as yet another flagship project. In October 2025, she decided to scrap it and to allocate the reserved budget elsewhere. The Finance Inspectorate itself found that the dossier contained no evidence whatsoever to support the reason given for this decision. Under no circumstances is this a cost-cutting measure, as the funds thus released are in the meantime being reallocated to other projects. In its latest evaluation of 16 April 2026, the Finance Inspectorate noted that the decision-making process in this matter ‘is being broken up into bits and pieces; thereby luring the Flemish Government into a sort of trap, and making the proposedreform a little more difficult and expensive to scrap at every stage, should the need arise.’

Even if the M HKA is allowed to retain its museum status after 2028, it is highly questionable whether it will not become an emperor with no clothes. In a dilapidated building that does not meet the required conditions for housing art, with a reduced collection (as a significant part of the current Flemish collection will soon be housed in Ghent), a dismantled archive service (the CKV, too, is at risk of being moved outside the M HKA) and an inadequate budget, it risks becoming impossible to operate not only at an international level, but also at a local level.

Antwerp, the city with the largest artistic community in Flanders, is at risk of becoming, from 2029, the only European metropolis of its size without a fully-fledged museum of contemporary art. The question we must ask ourselves today is therefore not who will lead the M HKA in the future, but rather what there will still be left to lead in 2029.

The proceedings

Seven Antwerp galleries, the non-profit organisation Team Zuid and the non-profit organisation Museum at Risk have summoned the Flemish Community before the Court of First Instance in Antwerp. They are asking the court to rule that the decision to halt the new-build project and the restructuring of the M HKA was made carelessly and unlawfully, in disregard of the legitimate expectations of those who have organised themselves around that policy for years. The case is pending before the Court of First Instance in Antwerp and is due to be heard on 26 May 2027.

Signatories:
Keteleer Gallery
Zeno X Gallery
Gallery Sofie Van De Velde
Tim Van Laere Gallery
Art Gallery Rik Rosseels
Ibasho Gallery
NV Camera Work
vzw Team Zuid
vzw Museum at Risk

For information on the proceedings and press enquiries

70