The contemporary art collection housed at Antwerp's M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art will not be transferred to Ghent, according to a clarification made by Flemish Culture Minister Caroline Gennez of the socialist Vooruit party. This announcement represents a significant shift from the minister's original proposal, which had suggested relocating the collection as part of a comprehensive restructuring of the Flemish museum landscape.
During discussions in the Flemish Parliament's culture committee, Minister Gennez outlined the revised plan for the region's contemporary art institutions. Under the new arrangement, Ghent's S.M.A.K. contemporary art museum will maintain responsibility for the Flemish Community's collection of contemporary art and will take on enhanced collection care duties. However, the physical artworks will remain at their current location in Antwerp.
The policy reversal comes after initial proposals had indicated that the M HKA would lose its official museum status and that its collection would be largely transferred to Ghent. Minister Gennez adopted a markedly different tone during the committee session, explicitly stating that there would be no physical transfer of the collection. "The collection will not be taken away from the M HKA and put on trucks to Ghent. The building will not be closed or shut down," the minister emphasized.
According to the revised plan, the collections of both the M HKA and S.M.A.K. will work together to strengthen the Flemish Community's overall contemporary art holdings. The key change involves shifting collection care responsibilities away from the M HKA as its core mission, while the institution will retain full access to all artworks and will actually be able to display them more broadly than before, including pieces from S.M.A.K.'s collection.
Minister Gennez was particularly emphatic in addressing what she characterized as misinformation about the restructuring plan. "People must stop spreading fake news," she declared. "We are not going to pick up the Panamarenko House and move it to Ghent. Anyone who says such things must realize that it is not feasible." This reference to the Panamarenko House, a significant cultural landmark, underscored her commitment to keeping culturally significant works in their appropriate regional contexts.
The minister repeatedly stressed that the restructuring should not be viewed as a competition between the two cities or their respective institutions. "This is not a story of S.M.A.K. versus M HKA or about the two cities," Gennez explained. "It is about the broad collection of the Flemish Community and about better supporting our visual artists." She emphasized that artworks with specific connections to Antwerp will continue to be displayed in the city.
Under the new vision, the M HKA is set to transform into an international arts center for visual arts, featuring expanded facilities for exhibitions, artist residencies, studios, workshops, and educational programs. This repositioning aims to establish the institution as a breeding ground for contemporary art throughout Antwerp and the broader Flanders region. The restructuring is designed to strengthen the museum landscape across all of Flanders rather than favoring one city over another.
The announcement appears to have resolved concerns about the potential loss of cultural assets from Antwerp while still achieving the minister's goal of creating a more coordinated and efficient system for managing the region's contemporary art collections. The collaborative approach between the two institutions is intended to benefit artists and art enthusiasts throughout the Flemish Community.
