There goes MoMu.
MoMu is exhibiting at external locations during renovation and expansion work.
April 18, 2018
Last weekend the successful exhibition 'Olivier Theyskens - She Walks in Beauty' came to an end, and at the same time the MoMu building on the Nationalestraat closed its doors for renovation and expansion work that will last until Autumn 2020.
Kaat Debo, director MoMu: "Since 2002, our museum has been committed to holding temporary exhibitions. We generally work closely with the designers to position fashion in an extensive scenography supporting the story of the pieces. MoMu’s own extensive collection, comprising about 30,000 objects, has been less frequently exhibited. Until now there has been no physical space within the museum to structurally exhibit this collection. Once the renovations are complete in 2020 we will be presenting the story of Belgian fashion on a permanent basis and giving our visitors a deeper look into our own world-renowned fashion history.”
Respectful but extensive update
B-architecten are in charge of the modifications to optimise the infrastructure. They will respect Marie-José Van Hee's original signature, so MoMu’s spacious entrance hall and its sculptural wooden staircase, that have been eye-catchers since 2002, will remain untouched.
Luk Lemmens, chairman De Museumstichting: "Roughly 800m² of additional public exhibition space will be created, including a large, multi-purpose space and a permanent exhibition hall for the permanent collection. These will ensure that visitors can also visit MoMu while thematic exhibitions are being changed, and that during peak times we can simultaneously display three different fashion stories in the 2,000 m². There will be an auditorium with a retractable stage enabling us to put on more readings, conferences and Q&A sessions.”
Kaat Debo: “MoMu’s library will be expanded with infrastructure for the museum's study collection, so that besides reading the books and magazines visitors can also study and handle the objects. Copyright Bookshop will remain and will become even more integrated in MoMu, and the museum will get its own shop and café. Behind the scenes, the depots and restoration studios will be completely renewed, which will allow us to store our collections and archives for future generations in a high-quality infrastructure under the best possible conditions. In this we are aiming for the most climate-neutral approach possible."
Closed for renovations, open to inspire at other locations
While the museum's building goes ‘under the knife’, MoMu is stepping out into the world. The MoMu exhibition 'Margiela, the Hermès Years’ can be seen until September 2018 in MAD, housed in the Louvre in Paris.
Luk Lemmens: “MoMu has the largest collection of Belgian fashion on the planet. During the closure, you can still enjoy these pieces in Belgium and elsewhere in the world. This year, we are lending works to MoMA in New York, Vitra Design Museum in Germany and Världskulturmuseet in Sweden, among others.”
In September, the exhibition 'SOFT? Tactile Dialogues’ will be held on location in the Maurice Verbaet Center in Antwerp. This exhibition presents the work of Belgian textile artists from the 1970s and ‘80s in an inspiring dialogue with contemporary artists who express themselves freely in textiles.
MoMu will continue to organise workshops and birthday parties for children, and a varied selection of guided tours for adults, all on location in Antwerp.
The renovation of MoMu was made possible thanks to an impuls subsidy of Visit Flanders, support from the City of Antwerp and the Province of Antwerp and own resources of the museum.
If you would like to follow the continual development of #MoMu2020, visit momu.be and MoMu’s social media channels.
