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Eminent creators have raised their voices in protest against what they label as an “arbitrary reshaping” of the nation’s museum landscape, as the Flanders government seek to cut public spending by dismantling the nation’s oldest modern art institution and relocating its complete holdings to a different urban center.

Directors Decry ‘Blatant Violations’ in Sector Shake-up

At a Tuesday briefing in Antwerp, the leadership of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA), established in 1985, decried what they termed the “blatant violations” of the cultural institution reorganization, a move due to be discussed in the national legislature this Friday.

“Antwerp represents the largest city in Flanders, with a legacy as a hub of the avant-garde in Belgium,” stated renowned painter Luc Tuymans, an Antwerp-based painter broadly regarded as Belgium’s foremost living artist.

“To degrade a museum to an arts centre is utterly irrational. You cannot just move a collection of artworks and transplant it into a different environment, because that specific context is not present,” he added.

Unexpected Decision Cancels New Building, Moves Collection

In October, the cultural affairs minister of the Flanders region cancelled the proposed development of a specially designed €80m high-rise building to house the museum, and revealed intentions to relocate its collection of some 8,000 pieces to Ghent’s Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Smak). This unexpected decision will effectively deprive the Antwerp institution of its museum status.

The M HKA’s collection features works by international artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Anish Kapoor and Marina Abramović.

“I cannot accept that my works might be removed from M HKA or potentially endangered as part of any institutional reorganisation,” stated artist Anish Kapoor in a communication to the ministry.

Financial Constraints Drive Austerity in Cultural Field

The country is confronting a budget deficit of 5.4 percent of its economic output, among the highest in the European monetary union. 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 sector would be streamlined so that cultural holdings in the Flanders region are housed within three beacon museums 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 Musea Brugge in Bruges and Museum M in Leuven.

Financial Inspectorate Raises Doubts Savings Rationale

Whether the proposed shake-up would actually lower costs has been challenged by Belgium’s financial inspectorate. In a memorandum sent to the minister in October, it gave an unfavourable opinion on the proposals, indicating their impact on the budget would be “partial and incomplete”.

While moving the museum’s permanent collection could reduce running expenses from approximately €8m to €5m, it is believed that in future the Antwerp institution would have to spend money to borrow works or buy in exhibitions to attract visitors.

The Smak museum in Ghent, located about an hour’s train ride from the Antwerp museum, is also thought to presently lack sufficient room to properly house M HKA’s collection, and would need investment to increase its storage capacity.