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Leading artists have voiced strong opposition against what they label as an “arbitrary reshaping” of Belgium’s museum landscape, as the Flanders government aim to cut public spending by dismantling the operations of the nation’s oldest contemporary art gallery and relocating its entire collection to another city.

Leaders Condemn ‘Blatant Violations’ in Sector Shake-up

At a recent press conference in Antwerp, the directors of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA), founded in 1985, denounced what they called the “flagrant illegalities” of the museum sector shake-up, a move due to be discussed in the national legislature this Friday.

“Antwerp is the largest city in Flanders, with a legacy as a home of the cutting-edge in Belgium,” said renowned painter Luc Tuymans, an Antwerp-based painter broadly regarded as Belgium’s foremost contemporary creator.

“To degrade a museum to an arts centre is utterly irrational. You cannot just move a collection of pieces and transfer it into another ecosystem, because such an ecosystem does not exist,” Tuymans continued.

Unexpected Decision Cancels €80m Project, Moves Holdings

In last autumn, the cultural affairs minister of the Flemish government cancelled the planned construction of a new, purpose-built €80m tower to accommodate the museum, and revealed intentions to relocate its collection of some 8,000 artworks to Ghent’s Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Smak). This surprise move will effectively strip the Antwerp museum of its museum status.

The M HKA’s collection features pieces by globally renowned creators such as Kerry James Marshall, Anish Kapoor and Marina Abramović.

“I do not accept that they could be removed from M HKA or otherwise put at risk as part of any structural reshuffling,” stated British artist Kapoor in a message to the ministry.

Budget Pressures Drive Cost-Cutting in Cultural Field

The country is confronting a budget deficit of 5.4% of GDP, one of the largest in the European monetary union. The cultural domain specifically is confronting significant reductions, with austerity measures also implying an uncertain future for the new Brussels Kanal museum.

Under the proposals of Minister Caroline Gennez, the museum landscape would be streamlined so that art collections in the Flanders region are concentrated at 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 Questions Cost-Saving Rationale

If the planned reorganization would actually reduce expenses has been questioned by the national audit office. In a report sent to Gennez in October, it gave an unfavourable opinion on the plans, indicating their impact on the budget would be “fragmentary”.

While moving the institution’s core holdings could cut operating costs from approximately €8m to €5m, it is understood that going forward the Antwerp institution would have to allocate funds to loan artworks or buy in exhibitions to attract visitors.

Ghent’s Smak, located about an hour’s train ride from the M HKA, is also believed to currently not have sufficient room to properly house M HKA’s collection, and would require funding to expand its storage facilities.