M HKA presents Museum in Motion

September 16, 2022–January 8, 2023

The Flemish community has started the next infrastructure step that will bring the Flemish museum landscape to an even higher level of international recognition as the Flemish fine arts collection finally regains its position in the completely refurbished KMSKA (Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp). As was previously reported, M HKA, the second cultural heritage organization for the Flemish community, will get a new structure specifically devoted to contemporary art. Later this year, a fresh architectural competition for its design will start. The next structure will increase visibility and place the collection of modern art more precisely within a coherent story.

In preparation for its new museum building, which will include sizeable permanent collection exhibits, M HKA has already started the crucial work. In light of this, M HKA is providing a sneak peek of what is to come in addition to the spectacular reopening of its sister institution. This fall, visitors to the KMSKA will also be able to see a sizable temporary exhibition with 24 important international artists who may later be featured in the new Flemish contemporary art museum as pieces of a future puzzle.

Focusing on a broader view of the museum’s collection, the exhibition aims to represent its longer-term goals by showcasing a number of stronghold artists with artists the institution hopes to add in the future or improve their position in the collection. This exhibition at M HKA heralds the magnificent conclusion of a decade-long remodeling project at KMSKA as well as the start of a new course.

As this is a distinctive reflection that will be carried out in the next years, the exhibition is called after a significant book on the particular praxis of contemporary art museums, Museum in Motion. Along with construction, the museum will need to create its historiography. The introduction of this discussion consists of a succinct selection that two dozen artists from M HKA’s artistic and collection teams believe should become a part of our frame of reference. Due to their established place in the reference frame, some of the regular suspects are missing. This is more of a first ambitious, suggestive prefiguration that is displayed on both of the museum’s main levels. It begins a reflection that will continue as the new structure also takes shape.