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Prominent creators have voiced strong opposition against what they describe as an “capricious restructuring” of the nation’s cultural scene, as regional authorities seek to reduce expenditures by dismantling the operations of the nation’s most historic 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), founded in 1985, denounced what they called the “blatant violations” of the cultural institution reorganization, a plan scheduled for discussed in the national legislature on Friday.

“Antwerp represents Flanders’ biggest city, with a heritage as a hub of the cutting-edge in Belgium,” said renowned painter Luc Tuymans, an Antwerp resident painter widely seen as Belgium’s most influential living artist.

“To demote a museum to an arts centre is simply insane. You cannot just move a collection of artworks and transfer it into a different environment, because such an ecosystem does not exist,” Tuymans continued.

Surprise Move Scraps €80m Project, Relocates Collection

In last autumn, the culture minister of the Flemish government cancelled the planned construction of a new, purpose-built €80m tower to accommodate the institution, and revealed intentions to relocate its collection of approximately 8,000 pieces to Ghent’s Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art (Smak). This surprise move will in effect strip the Antwerp museum of its official museum designation.

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

“I do not accept that they could be taken away from M HKA or potentially endangered as part of any institutional reorganisation,” said British artist Kapoor in a message to the ministry.

Financial Constraints Motivate Austerity in Cultural Field

Belgium faces a fiscal shortfall of 5.4% of GDP, one of the largest in the eurozone. The arts sector in particular is confronting significant reductions, with austerity measures also suggesting an uncertain future for the new Brussels Kanal museum.

According to the plans of Minister Caroline Gennez, the museum landscape would be consolidated so that art collections in the 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.

Auditors Questions Savings Logic

If the proposed shake-up would truly reduce expenses has been challenged by Belgium’s financial inspectorate. In a memorandum sent to Gennez in October, it issued a negative assessment on the plans, suggesting their effect on the budget would be “fragmentary”.

Although transplanting the institution’s core holdings could cut running expenses from around €8m to €5m, it is believed that going forward the Antwerp institution would have to allocate funds to borrow works or buy in exhibitions to draw audiences.

The Smak museum in Ghent, located about an hour’s train ride from the Antwerp museum, is also believed to presently lack enough space to properly house M HKA’s holdings, and would require funding to expand its storage capacity.