Museums City of Antwerp 2021
After an eventful year, in which many people had to postpone their museum visits, the Antwerp museums have been open again since 5 December and are tentatively looking ahead to the new year. Some exhibitions have been extended, whereas others were postponed. However, the museums are ready to safely welcome visitors with open arms again in 2021.
The Plantin-Moretus Museum is continuing its celebration of the 500th birthday of Christophe Plantin in 2021. The MAS and the Middelheim Museum are extending their Congo exhibitions into the new year: ‘100 x Congo’ will continue on until 13 September, and the Middelheim Museum is opening ‘Congoville’ on 29 May. The Mayer van den Bergh Museum is extending its exhibition ‘Madonna meets Mad Meg’ until 9 January 2022 and putting Henriëtte, the mother of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh, in the spotlight in the spring of 2021. In the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library, chivalric romances will make their debut in 2021.
The Letterenhuis will pay homage to Paul van Ostaijen and Stijn Streuvels, and the Vleeshuis will look back on the life of Wannes Van de Velde. DIVA is exhibiting the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, loaned from the V&A Museum in London, and FOMU is presenting acquisitions from the past ten years. The Rubens House is celebrating its 75th anniversary and the Red Star Line Museum is ending the year with a look back on the Geneva Convention, which was signed 70 years ago. The renovated Antwerp Fashion Museum is opening its doors in September.
Alderwoman for Culture, Nabilla Ait Daoud: “Our city museums are offering a diverse palette of brilliant and thought-provoking exhibitions in 2021 and also house rich permanent collections. We hope that Antwerp's residents and visitors will quickly find their way back to our museums. We are all craving art and culture and want to once again enjoy all the beauty that Antwerp — the cultural capital of Flanders — has to offer. Let's all enjoy a responsible visit to a museum. Keep a safe distance, wear a face mask and take care of each other.”
Photo Pascale Marthine Tayou, Colored Stones (detail), 2018 – Congoville, 29 mei – 3 oktober 2021
Courtesy the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, exhibition view Hedges, Edges, Dirt - ICA / VCU, Richmond, USA, 2018. ©️ ADAGP, Paris. Photo by David Hunter Hale for ICA / VCU.
Overview in chronological order
Meet Henriëtte
Mayer van den Bergh Museum
From March 2021
From 27 March, the Mayer van den Bergh Museum is honouring Henriëtte, the mother of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh. After his sudden death in 1901, Henriëtte was left with her son's unfulfilled wish: the establishment of a museum to exhibit his breathtaking collection. Henriëtte fulfilled this wish in 1904. The Mayer van den Bergh Museum thrusts this special lady into the limelight: meet Henriëtte, the founder of the museum and the driving force behind Fritz.
www.museummayervandenbergh.be/en
Masterpieces in Miniature. Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection
DIVA
5.03.2021 to 15.08.2021
From 5 March to 15 August 2021, DIVA presents the exhibition Masterpieces in Miniature: Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection. This touring exhibition was organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. This is the first time items from all categories of the Gilbert Collection will go on display on the European continent. That honour falls to DIVA, the Antwerp museum for diamonds, jewellery and silver. Some objects, such as the sixteenth-century partridge cup, are exclusive to the Antwerp exhibition.
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection is a homage to exquisitely crafted objects, many in precious metals and often small in scale. The Gilberts spent over forty years amassing their collection of nearly 1000 items of fine silverware, gold (snuff)boxes, enamels and mosaics made in Europe between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. Their passion for craftsmanship and beauty resulted in a collection that is unparalleled today.
100 years of Bezette Stad and Boem Paukenslag (working titles)
Letterenhuis
From 27.03.2021
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of the iconic, avant-garde collection ‘Bezette Stad’ by poet Paul van Ostaijen (1896 - 1928), in which he describes the Antwerp of the First World War in a cinematic and poetic style. Van Ostaijen wrote a cycle of poems that can be read like sheet music due to the rhythmic typography. With his collection, he not only evokes images of a deserted city, but also creates a new world with his poetry and typography.
With this exhibition, the Letterenhuis presents the many stories and layers that hide beneath this single collection: a portrait of the era, an innovative art form and poetry with many interpretations and angles.
The Letterenhuis has also invited five young makers to create a touring multimedia installation. Five artists with a fresh, modern perspective will reinterpret the poetry collection Bezette Stad. The inspiration is the collection in the Letterenhuis, which includes proofs and letters from Paul van Ostaijen.
The touring installation Boem Paukenslag will encourage young people to think about the themes in the poetry collection that remain relevant today, such as urbanism, war, imagery, language and art. However, the installation will also encourage them to take a critical look at their environment, to gain inspiration from it and to share their creative expressions.
The installation is touring Belgium and the Netherlands for one year, from March 2021 to April 2022.
500 years of Plantin
Plantin-Moretus Museum
Impressed by Plantin
From March 2021
Plantin's world: Travelling with Plantin
27.03.2021 to 01.08.2021
In 2020, the Plantin-Moretus Museum celebrated the 500th birthday of Christophe Plantin with a varied programme that provides an intriguing look at this multi-faceted man: Christophe Plantin as an inspirer, traveller, letter writer and citizen of the tumultuous 16th century. In 2021, the museum is continuing its celebrations.
From the spring, the Museum will exhibit the result of a collaboration with eight artists from Antwerp who have created works inspired by the impressive collection of woodcuts in the Plantin-Moretus Museum.
In April, visitors can travel with Plantin on his business trips to Leiden, Paris and Frankfurt.
www.museumplantinmoretus.be/en/page/500-years-plantin
Wannes Van de Velde Theme Year
Museum Vleeshuis
From May 2021
Since the release of the protest song, ‘Lied van de Neus’ in 1966, Wannes’ name has been inextricably linked to the Poesje theatre and the Vleeshuis Museum. In response to the arrival of his office in 2019, the Vleeshuis Museum | The Sound of the City is further exploring Wannes’ life and his lasting impact between May and December 2021.
In this mini exhibition, the museum is zooming in on Wannes’ unique connection to De Neus and (the sounds of) the Antwerp puppet theatre, using Wannes’ own Poesje puppets and scripts.
During six concerts, which are part of the Wednesday Sounds series, musicians will be inspired by the music, artistic oeuvre and life of Wannes Van de Velde.
In addition, there will be various theme days (such as Heritage Night) centred on Van de Velde, as well as a walk, a podcast and a unique collaboration with the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp.
In collaboration with VZW Erfgoed Wannes Van de Velde.
Congoville
Middelheim Museum
29.05.2021 to 03.10.2021
Both the Middelheim Museum and the University of Antwerp are located on the spot where the colonial college was founded in 1920. One hundred years later, this is the reason for the Middelheim Museum to investigate the traces of the (post)colonial history of the site and to make them tangible. It does so by bringing together new historical research with contemporary artistic views.
The Middelheim Museum invited researcher and curator Sandrine Colard to create an exhibition that unravels the silent history of colonialism. Congoville points to the visible and invisible urban traces of colonialism, not on the African continent, but in the very heart of modern Belgium: a building, a park, imperialistic myths and citizens of African descent. The Middelheim site is also part of this invisible city. For the exhibition, 15 international artists, in the role of ‘black flâneurs’, take the visitor on a walk in the park. They guide us through a quest to reimagine an open and shared public space, and with their artistic specialisations they present new and different perspectives on a history that is often told from a single perspective.
Acquisitions 2010 - 2020 (working title)
FOMU
From May 2021
With ‘Acquisitions 2010 - 2020’, the museum is taking visitors on an associative walk through a selection of photos that the FOMU purchased in the past decade. The museum has chosen to display them in a unchronological order to allow new connections between the works to arise.
This exhibition offers an excellent opportunity to think about the past and future. What have we achieved and where do we want to go? There are three main focuses: Belgian photographers; international, socially relevant photography; and a clear connection to the exhibitions. Visitors are sure to recognise photographers who have previously been exhibited in the FOMU.
Ken Lum: new work for Antwerp
Art in the City — Middelheim Museum
Various locations throughout the city
June to September 2021
Since the late 1980s, innovative artist Ken Lum (Canada, 1956) has raised the subject of representation and identity in an unparalleled way. Lum is most renowned for his works that pair photographic portraits with short, powerful texts, where the individual and the universally recognisable meet. For this public space exhibition — Lum's first solo project in Belgium — the artist has created a new series of large posters which centre on our relationship to work. Although every portrait evokes the unique environment of the subject, they also offer a cross-section of the worries and fears that we all have: What if I lose my job tomorrow? Who will take care of my children when I'm at work? How does it feel when your work is not valued or understood? The new works by Ken Lum are directly influenced by the current COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on our living and work environments, without referring to it explicitly.
Stijn Streuvels – Insights (working title)
Letterenhuis
11.09.2021 to 31.12.2021
On 3 October 2021, it is the 150th birthday of Stijn Streuvels. For this reason, the Letterenhuis wants to put the multi-talented Streuvels in the spotlight. Streuvels was not only a talented, valued and celebrated writer, he also had a lifelong affinity and gift for photography. Both his literary and photographic legacy continue to inspire to this day.
In the exhibition, ‘Insights’, Arne De Winde and Lieven Van Speybroeck explore the photographic works by Stijn Streuvels. From the extensive photo archive, which contains about 7000 images, they selected an idiosyncratic cross-section of his work: family photos, snapshots of the landscape around his home of Het Lijsternest, his trip to Palestine, impressions of rural life, and portraits of locals. They contrast the images with quotes from Streuvel’s literary work and documents from the archives to provide a fresh look at the writer's two mediums.
At the invitation of the Letterenhuis, Magnum photographer Bieke Depoorter will stay at Het Lijsternest, Stijn Streuvel's former home, for a period of two weeks in February 2021. Inspired by Streuvel's home, texts and photos, she will create new work inspired by the writer. The artistic result of this dialogue will be exhibited in Het Lijsternest from mid-June onwards.
75 years of the Rubens House
The Rubens House
Summer 2021
In 2021, the Rubens House reaches its 75th anniversary as a museum. The museum will celebrate this milestone with an event in summer 2021.
Reopening of MoMu Antwerp
From September 2021
MoMu has been undergoing an ambitious renovation and expansion since April 2018 and will once again open its doors to the public during the weekend of 4 and 5 September 2021. Thanks to the renovation, the museum will be open continuously for the first time and will be able to devote itself to a varied programme, workshops and activities at all times.
Masculinities
FOMU
Spring 2021
Through the medium of film and photography, this major exhibition shows how masculinity is formed. The exhibition deciphers the codes from which masculinity is constructed, from the 1960s to today.
This international exhibition with works from over 50 artists was curated by the Barbican in London and is currently on show in Gropius Bau in Berlin. This summer, the exhibition will tour to Les Rencontres d’Arles, and in the autumn of 2021 it will be shown in the FOMU.
You can find more information about this exhibition on the Barbican's website: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2020/event/masculinities-liberation-through-photography
Heroes in armour
16th century Dutch-language chivalric romances
Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library
From October 2021 to January 2022
Everyone knows the legends of Charlemagne and King Arthur. But why do these stories still tickle our imagination today? Why is a story like Karel ende Elegast still known today, while others have disappeared?
The Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library has acquired five unique 16th century Dutch-language chivalric romances in recent years: Galien Rethore, Olivier van Castillen, Jason ende Hercules, Ponthus ende Sydonie and de Roncevale. These works are at the centre of the exhibition.
www.consciencebibliotheek.be/en
Listen
MAS
From 30.10.2021 to 2023
In 2021, the MAS is celebrating the museum collection with a colourful, unique exhibition. In the museum's tenth anniversary year, they are pulling out all the stops with fascinating and moving stories from Antwerp about greedy giants, stormy romances, demons and jokes from the East. Together with writer and playwright Dimitri Leue, the museum is presenting the collection with a gripping audioplay. Dimitri Leue takes a deep dive into myths, legends and worldly stories and gives the visitor a new perspective on the objects with an audio experience. Iconic characters such as Brabo, Hodja, Lange Wapper, the swan knight and Chamunda play the leading roles in these moving and amusing stories that guide the visitor through imaginative and theatrical scenography. He will perform a theatre show based on this and other stories in various locations throughout Flanders.
www.mas.be/en
Portrait of the Netherlands
Plantin-Moretus Museum
From 03.12.2021 to 06.03.2022
In 2021, we are celebrating the 500th birthday of Italian writer Lodovico Guicciardini, who published a bestseller in 1582: Description de touts les Pais-Bas. In this book, he described all the cities in the Netherlands, and the economy, politics, language, flora, fauna and character of the prospering Netherlands. He pays particular attention to his place of residence, Antwerp. Of the residents, he says: “They are sailors and able to trade all over the world. Even the women (even if they have never travelled outside their country) can speak three or four, sometimes five, six and seven languages, which is a pleasant and wonderful thing.” The exhibition contrasts Guicciardini's perspective as an Italian immigrant with how immigrants view our Netherlands today.
www.museumplantinmoretus.be/en
70 years of Geneva
Red Star Line Museum
From December 2021
In 2021, it is exactly 70 years since the Refugee Convention was signed by 24 countries in Geneva. In the aftermath of WW2, this convention established the definition of a refugee and who is entitled to asylum. Today, there are 80 million people fleeing their countries worldwide and this is the subject of much discussion in our society. In the year of this topical anniversary, the Red Star Line Museum is opening the exhibition, ‘70 years of Geneva’. An exhibition that explores what it really means to flee your country.
The exhibition ‘70 years of Geneva’ is a gripping and confronting journey through the authentic stories of refugees who migrated to Belgium in the past 70 years. Stories of frustration, uncertainty and trauma, as well as courage, resilience and persistence. What decisions did they have to make during their journeys? Who did they meet along the way? What about the label ‘refugee’? Will they ever not be a 'refugee’? With real-life stories, the exhibition explains how we handle refugees today and the history of this approach.
More information about this press release can be found via the websites of the museums.