M HKA one year on: audiences remain, the museum moves forward
One year after the decision on the new building, the museum has a new direction
One year after plans for Muhka’s new building were shelved, the museum is looking ahead. Visitors kept coming, the artistic programme continued, and on 1 October Muhka submitted its plan for 2026–2028. The direction is clear: the collection as its foundation, the network as its strength.
Visitor figures show a remarkably stable audience. Muhka welcomes more than 100,000 visitors a year on average. Visitors also continued to come immediately after the decision on the museum’s future. With more than 15,000 visitors, October 2025 was the museum’s strongest October since 2018. The fourth quarter ended with just under 29,000 visitors, its strongest fourth quarter since 2019.
“These figures are no reason to sit back, but they do tell us something important: our audience has stayed with us. That gives us a strong foundation to build on. At the same time, we need to be honest about where there is still room to grow.”
Dieter Vankeirsbilck, Acting Director, Muhka
2026: a year of change
By the end of September 2026, Muhka had welcomed more than 65,000 visitors. After an exceptional 2025, 2026 is a more typical year.
The artistic programme continued throughout. Since late June, Nicola L.: When the Earth Turned the Other Way has been on view, the first major retrospective of the artist’s work in Belgium. The exhibition has received extensive coverage in the Belgian and international press. It remains on view until 18 October. Final visitor figures are not yet available.
Lee Bul and Muhka 40
This autumn builds on that artistic direction with an exhibition of international scope. On 13 November, Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now opens, a major survey of one of the most influential artists of her generation. Bringing together more than 150 works, it is the only European stop on the exhibition’s international tour. For the first time, a solo exhibition will occupy two full floors of Muhka.
Muhka will also celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2027. Rather than marking the occasion with a conventional retrospective, the museum will use it as an opportunity for a year-long conversation with artists, researchers, schools and care organisations, beginning in April.
“Muhka’s fortieth anniversary is not an end point for us. It is an opportunity to ask again what a museum of contemporary art can mean. Not only for artists and the art world, but also for schools, the city and people who would not ordinarily visit a museum.”
Muhka is not closing
One year after the decision on the new building, a persistent misconception remains: that Muhka is going to close. It is not. Muhka is open and will remain a museum of contemporary art.
The museum is nevertheless going through a period of transition. On 1 October, it submitted its plan for 2026-2028. The proposed direction is based on two principles: the collection as a foundation and the network as a strength.
Over the coming years, Muhka wants to place its collection more firmly at the heart of its work while further developing its collaborations with artists, researchers, schools, care organisations and other partners.
The minister is expected to approve the plan in mid-October.
The organisational structure is changing too. Muhka is moving to a shared leadership model. Applications for positions within the new management structure are open until 1 November.
Moving forward, not back
The decision on the new building marked a break with a vision of the future centred on a new museum building. Muhka is now starting from a different question: how can the museum continue to grow from its collection, its artists and its network? The answer will take shape over the coming years.
“Over the past year, we have been asked many questions about what Muhka would become. Today, we can give a clearer answer. We remain a museum. We will continue to exhibit and collect. And we are building an organisation that draws more strongly on what we already have: a collection, artists, expertise and a broad network.”
The building remains a challenge
Cancelling the new building did not make the museum’s infrastructure challenges disappear. The current building falls short of what a well-functioning museum needs, technically, environmentally and functionally. It has therefore been on the list of government-owned cultural buildings in urgent need of attention for several years. Nor does the building fully reflect what Muhka wants to be: an open, transparent and accessible organisation that shares space with the city.
The museum will soon submit a new needs assessment to the government, setting out its requirements clearly. At the same time, it is exploring realistic measures that could make the building more energy-efficient, effective, accessible and open in the short and medium term.
One thing is clear: Muhka needs better infrastructure. The museum will continue to make the case for it.
Muhka is continuing to build its future on every front: artistically, organisationally and in terms of infrastructure. The museum remains open. The next phase begins now.
