{"id":788684,"date":"2026-10-01T15:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/788684\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T15:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:46:13","slug":"doubts-over-financial-sustainability-of-brusselss-new-kanal-museum-cloud-upcoming-opening-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/788684\/","title":{"rendered":"Doubts over financial sustainability of Brussels\u2019s new Kanal museum cloud upcoming opening – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

With its own bakery and playground, Kanal is no ordinary museum. But the first major Modern and contemporary art museum in Brussels, located in a converted Citro\u00ebn garage, has also faced much controversy over the years of planning and building. It is now set to open on 28 November with 40,000 sq. m of art, architecture and public space.<\/p>\n

Ever since a Socialist government announced its ambition to build this museum in 2013, the \u20ac230m project has faced criticism, in part because of its partnership with the Centre Pompidou. Kanal plans to borrow art from the Paris museum for the first five years at a cost of \u20ac2m a year.<\/p>\n

Just under a year ago, as Brussels\u2019s government coalition talks stumbled, the opening looked doubtful. Kanal\u2019s managing director, Yves Goldstein, announced in May that he would step down next spring<\/a>. But last month this date was brought forward: according to an agreement with the Brussels minister-president Boris Dilli\u00e8s, Goldstein will now depart on 30 November,<\/a> immediately following the opening weekend. The Art Newspaper\u00a0understands that interviews for the role will take place this month. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe parties acknowledge a difference of opinion regarding the future of Kanal,\u201d says a statement from the Brussels-Capital Region, the executive body overseeing 19 municipalities including the capital.<\/p>\n

Kanal’s future funding is far from secure. The Brussels regional government, which this year reportedly loaned an extra \u20ac60m to the Kanal Foundation for the construction project, tells The Art Newspaper that the museum will need private donors after 2028.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kasia Redzisz, Kanal\u2019s artistic director, says half of the new museum\u2019s 40,000 sq. m will be open\u00a0to the public free of charge<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Bart Dewaele<\/p>\n

None of this dims the enthusiasm of the artistic director, Kasia Redzisz, who sees the museum as a vital community resource in one of Belgium\u2019s least affluent\u00a0districts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrussels is one of the most diverse cities in the world,\u201d she says. \u201cThis museum has an obligation to speak as much to locality as to contribute to global debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Art in the public spaces<\/p>\n

While it will display more than 300 works from the Centre Pompidou, Kanal will allocate more than 20,000 sq. m to public space. \u201cWe cannot make our exhibitions accessible free of charge, unfortunately, but we will make sure that there is some art to enjoy in the public spaces,\u201d Redzisz says. \u201cFrom day one, everybody is welcome in the public spaces,\u201d which, she says, account for half of the museum space.<\/p>\n

There will be a children\u2019s playground designed by the Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble, areas for meetings, water fountains and spaces for young people to do homework through a partnership with l\u2019Universit\u00e9 des Familles.<\/p>\n

The art and architecture complex will host exhibitions, special commissions and live performances across five floors and eight event spaces, with resources including a library, workshop, rooftop bar and bakery. The opening of another building devoted to architecture has had to be postponed, after a rooftop fire in July.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Koekelberg viaduct near Sainctelettesquare, around 1958, showing the Citroen garage that will house Kanal Postcard by Colorprint, Brussels \u00a9 Kanal Architecture Collections<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A drone image of Kanal today, which can be seen centre right Image credit\/ Atelier Kanal<\/p>\n

Funding drop<\/p>\n

Around 15% of the works will be from Kanal\u2019s own collection or loaned from\u00a0institutions in Belgium, and they\u00a0will include Belgium-based artists such as Ann Veronica Janssens, Gabriel Kuri, Lucy McKenzie and the photographer Sammy Baloji. In an underground gallery, the Belgian multimedia artist\u00a0Jo\u00eblle Tuerlinckx will create a commission inspired by the process of building itself.<\/p>\n

While the Brussels government, led by the liberal politician Boris Dilli\u00e8s, is supporting the opening, its message is clear: Kanal is set to receive \u20ac28m in public funding for its operating costs in 2026, but this is projected to drop to an annual \u20ac10m by 2029.<\/p>\n

\u201cKanal should be Brussels\u2019s flagship museum for modern art, in the view of the new Brussels prime minister,\u201d a spokesman for the regional government, Christophe Degreef, wrote in an email. \u201cAfter the opening, the next major hurdle will be changing the museum\u2019s funding model. From 2028, Kanal is expected to work increasingly with private investors and, in time, become financially self-sustaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kanal under construction, January 2026 \u00a9 David Levene<\/p>\n

\u2018Top-down political project\u2019<\/p>\n

According to critics like Benjamin Dalle, a member of the Brussels regional assembly and a former media minister, this was always a top-down political project that should have started with local artists and communities. \u201cSince the start, my opinion was that the governance, the funding, the partnerships and the whole concept were poorly conceived,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you want to see the Pompidou, you can go to Paris\u2014it\u2019s only an hour-and-a-half by Eurostar.\u201d<\/p>\n

He believes Brussels cannot afford the high cost of the museum, and wonders why it does not have partnerships with Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, or the contemporary art museums SMAK in Ghent or the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp.<\/p>\n

While many artists and curators hope Kanal will benefit the artistic community, others have concerns. The F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des arts plastiques says it should immediately end the relationship with the Centre Pompidou. \u201cSeveral questions continue to be raised within the sector: the place given to Belgian artists in the programming, the policy for acquiring works, support for local and emerging artists, and the museum\u2019s accessibility for Brussels residents,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Redzisz hopes that the opening will assuage such doubts, with a predicted 550,000 visitors a year by 2030. While Brussels has a thriving art scene, she says there is a gap. \u201cIn terms of mission, education, heritage, legacy, there\u2019s a classical role that museums can play,\u201d she says. \u201cKanal takes this responsibility very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With its own bakery and playground, Kanal is no ordinary museum. But the first major Modern and contemporary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,643,644,1120,96,4215,149050,10748,10345,29323,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-788684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-belgium","tag-brussels","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-funding","tag-kanal-centre-pompidou","tag-museums","tag-museums-heritage","tag-openings","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}