The Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp, the M HKA welcomed a strikingly higher number of visitors in the first few months following Culture Minister Caroline Gennez’s Museum Plan. Exactly one year ago, that plan drawn up by the Flemish socialist politician sent shockwaves through the Flemish cultural landscape. The M HKA initially faced the threat of closure but was able to retain its status as a museum following talks with the minister.
Contemporary art museum M HKA in Antwerp increases visitor numbers following threat of closure
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“Our visitors have remained loyal to the museum,” says Dieter Vankeirsbilck, acting director of the M HKA. Following Bart De Baere’s resignation, he has temporarily taken the helm of the museum.
De Baere tendered his resignation following the uproar over the new Museum Plan put forward by Caroline Gennez. On 6 October 2025, it seemed the M HKA was set to disappear, and its collection would have to move to the S.M.A.K., the contemporary art museum in Ghent, but that changed at the start of this year. The M HKA will remain a museum and must reinvent itself.
The initial news of the museum’s closure led to a significant increase in visitor numbers in the months that followed. In October 2025, the M HKA welcomed 15,426 visitors, making it the museum’s best October since 2018. The entire final quarter, from 1 October to 31 December, was the best since 2019, with 28,682 visitors.
Received a great deal of support
“We received a great deal of support from organisations and artists at the time,” Vankeirsbilck continues. “That had a major impact on those figures.” In the months that followed, visitor numbers fell back to the expected level.
Many people, including schools that have been coming on guided tours for years, still think the M HKA is closing. “There has really been a miscommunication about that,” says Vankeirsbilck. “Because of the changes we have to implement, people still think we’re going to close. Yet we’ve always remained open.”
Transition plan
On 1 October, the museum submitted a transition plan for 2026–2028 to the minister. “Over the past few months, we have undertaken an extensive process in which artists, arts organisations and other stakeholders from the sector were consulted about the museum’s future,” says the director. “That formed the basis for our transition plan.”
In that plan, the museum’s focus is on the collection and on collaboration with artists and organisations. “Collaboration with other institutions, like the KMSKA fine arts museum or the Fotomuseum, both in Antwerp, is also important in this regard. By January 2028, the M HKA must submit a new strategic plan for the period 2029–2033.”