A date has been set for the opening of the Kanal-Centre Pompidou Museum in the centre of Brussels. During a press visit to the construction site of what will become the new museum, its Director Yves Goldstein said that Kanal-Centre Pompidou will open in November 2026.
The museum will open to visitors on 28 November 2026. The 40,000m² museum will be housed in the former Citroën garage alongside the canal in downtown Brussels. It will be one of the largest museums of its kind in Europe. A significant portion of the contemporary and modern art museum site will be freely accessible public space.
Speaking on Tuesday Mr Goldstein said that "Kanal will be a democratic, inclusive, participative and optimistic museum where everyone can find a place. Rather than creating what he described as a "traditional museum", Mr Goldstein says he wants to build one where more than half of the surface total area is freely accessible to the public.
The museum’s spokesman Dieter Vanthournout told journalists that the museum aims to become "an extension of the city". People will be able to go to the museum site to study, read or just have a drink without having to pay to look at the exhibits.
Mr Vanthournout added that "We want to keep the design of the museum as close as possible to that of the old Citroën garage, although certain things have been modified here and there, for example to accommodate Picasso's works, or for climatic reasons”.