The first artworks have arrived at Kanal in Brussels. The opening of Brussels’ new museum of contemporary and modern art on 28 November is fast approaching. Artworks are now being delivered on a weekly basis. These include both pieces from the museum’s own collection and loans from its partner museum, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, as well as from other Belgian museums and private collections.
On Tuesday, the first artworks for “A Truly Immense Journey”, one of the ten opening exhibitions that can be viewed from 28 November, arrived. The first specialised art transport moved three artworks, which were transported in special crates from the museum’s storage facility to the building on the Saincteletteplein.
‘It’s a moving experience for the whole team to finally see the result of what we’ve been working on so hard for years and to realise why we do it,’ says press officer David Salomonowicz, speaking to Brussels media outlet BRUZZ. ‘And it couldn’t be more symbolic than the fact that the first works come from artists in our own collection.’
Since 2018, Kanal has been building its own art collection, with a particular focus on Belgian artists. The Kanal collection now comprises around 120 artworks, including pieces by Sammy Baloji, Kasper Bosmans, Aline Bouvy, Walter Swennen and Ann Veronica Janssens. The Brussels-based artists Joëlle Tuerlinckx and Manon de Boer will each have a solo exhibition during Kanal’s opening season.