Bart De Baere Steps Down as General and Artistic Director of M HKA
Statement from Bart De Baere
After careful consideration, I have decided to offer my resignation as General and Artistic Director of M HKA to the Board.
The decision of our supervisory minister, Caroline Gennez, Flemish Minister of Culture, to discontinue M HKA’s museum operations alters the scope and purpose of the mandate I currently hold. In this changed context, I believe it is appropriate for the institution to have the space to rethink its future without my presence becoming an obstacle in those discussions.
M HKA has earned recognition both nationally and internationally as a forward-thinking museum of contemporary art, fulfilling the international mission entrusted to it by Flanders, while maintaining a strong local foundation. The museum has deliberately invested in core functions, including areas less developed in Flanders, such as archival work and research.
Over the past five years, I have largely stepped back from direct engagement with artists to guide a developmental leap that Antwerp and Flanders deserve: the creation of a fully-fledged, realistically ambitious museum infrastructure capable of achieving what the current building cannot, alongside the development of an institutional framework to ensure a sustainable mandate.
My aim has been to establish a vibrant space where the history of contemporary art, today’s artistic practice, and questions of social relevance converge. I remain convinced that it is precisely this integration — of preserving, contextualising, presenting, and creating — that shapes M HKA’s future, and that Flanders needs this holistic model of contemporary art museums to remain internationally relevant.
I look back with pride on what the M HKA team has built under challenging circumstances: an open and critical museum that bridges artists, audiences, and society.
My commitment to this institution, and to the artists who sustain it, as well as my willingness to continue contributing my expertise, knowledge of the archives, policy experience, and international insight, remains intact — albeit in a supportive role to help guide this transition.
I extend my gratitude to the artists, the Board, all staff, and the many partners for their trust and collaboration over the years.
I have always seen this institution as a laboratory for development, both for the visual arts and the museum sector. I share the hope of many that M HKA will continue to retain its significance for Flanders and far beyond in the years to come.
— Bart De Baere
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