130 Million Euro Project to Build New M HKA Museum in Antwerp Given Green Light by Flemish Government

The Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA) is currently housed in a converted and expanded grain silo on Leuvenstraat in the Antwerp South district. Various preliminary studies have shown that it is not possible to meet the expectations set out in the Cultural Heritage Decree within the current infrastructure, particularly with regards to public functions and the presentation of the important collection. In order to fulfill its international ambitions as a cultural heritage institution, the Flemish Government included a study and the construction of a new M HKA in its government agreement. On July 20th, 2018, it confirmed the choice of location on the Hof van Beroep site in Antwerp, and mandated the Flemish Minister of Culture to initiate an Open Call for the appointment of a design team. The Minister was also given the mandate to approve the selection and award decisions for the project. On May 17th, 2019, the Minister of Culture, Jan Jambon, announced the five candidate designers to the Flemish Government. On March 19th, 2020, Jan Jambon decided not to proceed with the project. The ambitions of the Flemish Government had evolved since the start of this initial competition. The changed urban planning insights of the city of Antwerp on the South district also required a reworking of the project dossier. The insights gained from these exercises, as well as the changed economic circumstances with significantly increased construction costs, led to a re-examination of the program. The construction project for the M HKA is now being restarted. The project team has rewritten the project definition and updated the project budget in response to high indexation. The Flemish Government now agrees to the updated project cost of 130 million euros. It mandates the Flemish Minister of Culture to initiate the architecture competition procedure for the appointment of a design team and agrees with the composition of the selection and awarding committee.