Sellink New Director KMSKA

On 16 October, Minister of Culture Sven Gatz announced that Manfred Sellink will succeed Paul Huvenne as the new General Director and Head Curator of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA). Sellink is currently General Director of Musea Brugge.

The Dutchman Manfred Sellink (born 1962) was elected after an extensive recruitment procedure. Sellink holds a PhD in Art History (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). His dissertation focused on the engraver and print publisher Philips Galle (1537-1612). Sellink is widely renowned as a specialist in the life and work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, prints and drawings in the Low Countries in the second half of the 16th Century, landscapes in the 16th Century in the Low Countries, the (collection-)history of museums and exhibitions and contemporary graphic and drawing arts. Sellink is a professor at the University of Ghent. On many occasions, Sellink was invited to speak at universities and conferences worldwide. He is a member of national and international network organisations and facilitating organisations.

As the director of Musea Brugge (with such museums as the Groeninge Museum, the Gruuthuuse Museum and the Sint-Janshospitaal) and as an eminent art historian, Sellink possesses the necessary job competency profile to lead the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. The KMSKA is one of the biggest Flemish cultural institutions and is part of the Flanders Department of Culture, Youth, Sports and Media.

Sellink told in a reaction to Artdependence Magazine that he will join the team of KMSKA in December. He wants to make  KMSKA a success when it re-opens in 2018.  Sellink has the intention of making a prestigious Pieter Breughel exhibition in  2019 to commemorate the 150 year death of Pieter Breughel.