Prominent artists have raised their voices in protest against what they label as an “arbitrary reshaping” of the nation’s museum landscape, as regional authorities seek to cut public spending by dismantling the country’s oldest modern art institution and transplanting its entire collection to another city.
Leaders Condemn ‘Flagrant Illegalities’ in Sector Shake-up
At a recent press conference in Antwerp, the directors of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA), established in 1985, denounced what they termed the “flagrant illegalities” of the museum sector shake-up, a move due to be debated in Belgium’s parliament on Friday.
“Antwerp represents the largest city in Flanders, with a legacy as a home of the avant-garde in Belgium,” said renowned painter Luc Tuymans, an Antwerp resident artist broadly regarded as Belgium’s foremost living artist.
“To demote a museum to an exhibition space is simply insane. You cannot just move a collection of artworks and transfer it into another ecosystem, because that specific context is not present,” he added.
Surprise Move Cancels €80m Project, Moves Collection
In October, the cultural affairs minister of the Flemish government scrapped the planned construction of a new, purpose-built €80m tower to accommodate the institution, and revealed intentions to relocate its holdings of some 8,000 artworks to Ghent’s Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Smak). This unexpected decision will in effect deprive the Antwerp institution of its official museum designation.
The M HKA’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 institutional reorganisation,” said artist Anish Kapoor in a communication to the culture ministry.
Financial Constraints Drive Cost-Cutting in Arts Sector
The country is confronting a budget deficit of 5.4 percent of its economic output, one of the largest in the eurozone. The arts sector in particular is confronting dramatic cuts, with budget-tightening policies also implying an unclear fate for Brussels’ new Kanal museum.
According to the plans of Minister Caroline Gennez, the museum landscape would be streamlined so that cultural holdings in the region are housed within three flagship institutions for historical, modern and contemporary art.
Flanders has 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 Raises Doubts Cost-Saving Logic
If the proposed shake-up would truly lower costs has been challenged by Belgium’s financial inspectorate. In a report sent to the minister in October, it gave an unfavourable opinion on the plans, indicating their impact on the budget would be “partial and incomplete”.
While transplanting the museum’s permanent collection could cut operating costs from approximately €8m to €5m, it is believed that going forward the Antwerp institution would have to spend money to borrow works or purchase touring shows to attract visitors.
Ghent’s Smak, situated roughly an hour’s train ride from the Antwerp museum, is also believed to currently not have sufficient room to adequately store M HKA’s collection, and would need investment to increase its storage facilities.
