20 years of Museum Night

Choose an artwork from the collection and have a fragment applied to your skin as temporary face paint. As it is applied, a museum staff member shares a brief detail, meaning or unexpected anecdote about the work. Image and skin meet. The artwork travels with you through Museumnacht.

Seven scarecrow figures, filled with straw and dressed in original designs by the Antwerp Six, form an artwork by Daniel Knorr. As a series, they occupy a space between fashion, object, marketing and art. The work is being presented again especially for Museumnacht. Take a seat on a bed of straw on the rooftop terrace, referring to the material inside the figures. Together with a guide, discuss canon, name and value, what is visible and what remains unnamed.

In the spirit of ORLAN’s MesuRAGEs, measure the site around the Hof van Beroep using your own body as the unit of measurement. MesuRAGEs is a long-running series of performances in which ORLAN measures public spaces and cultural institutions using her own body as a reference. She previously performed it at the ICC, Muhka’s predecessor, and later at Muhka itself. During Museumnacht, you will not re-enact an ORLAN performance. Instead, you will take part in an activity inspired by her work. Explore the site around the Hof van Beroep – once intended as the location for Muhka’s new building – and use your body as a measuring instrument. An invitation to experience a place through physicality, contact and direct presence. This activity is weather-dependent and cannot take place in rain or strong winds. You will be asked to lie on the ground, so bear in mind that your clothes may get dirty.

Muhka is clearing out its archive with the AARS collective (Antwerp Artist Run School) and artists Idris Sevenans and Tomas Beaujean. What if waste becomes art again? In an ongoing performance, shredded pieces from the Muhka archive are mixed with plaster and reassembled into an artwork in public ownership.

On the sixth floor, Joris Van de Moortel creates a temporary space centred on tarot, with live performance, a short documentary and a workshop where you can explore tarot yourself. The space and documentary are accessible throughout the evening. Between 20:00 and 00:00, Joris alternates tarot readings with live music. You can also read tarot yourself, formulate your own predictions and insights, and work with the materials provided. Music performance: Joris, vocals and guitar; Zias, guitar and keyboards; Marlon, bass; Alfredo, drums. Documentary: Joris Van de Moortel and Timo Vergauwen.

On the Kissing Couch, a brief moment of physical closeness unfolds without a fixed script. How close can an encounter between art and visitor become? Take a seat on the Kissing Couch for an unplanned encounter: a kiss on the cheek, an unexpected moment that briefly arises between people and then disappears again. The action connects with the work of Nicola L., in which the body is not only represented but also examined as object, surface and presence. In her practice, lips, eyes and body parts become both functional and vulnerable forms.

With a torch in hand, move through Muhka’s collection labyrinth. Creaking doors and altered lighting give the collection a different atmosphere for one evening. Some works appear in the light, while others remain hidden in the shadows. A nocturnal experience in which darkness, sound and atmosphere offer a new perspective on the collection. The guided tour starts approximately every twenty minutes and lasts 15 to 20 minutes. A maximum of 10 people can take part in each tour. First come, first served.

Hit the dance floor to DJ All-Man’s flamboyant music at Muhkafe.