Kanal and Centre Pompidou unite to open Brussels' first contemporary and modern art museum

A glimpse through colossal glass walls have begun to reveal a landmark creation for contemporary and modern art in the Belgian capital.

It follows an operation that started in 2018 with the renovation of a historic building and is set to end in November 2026 to allow the public to enter.

"The utopia we have is that in a city as fragmented as Brussels - socially, economically, religiously, philosophically - art and culture can bring people together. The whole project stems from a reflection on how to tackle the great challenge of living together in Brussels", said Yves Goldstein, director of the KANAL Foundation, who gave Euronews a guided tour of the 40,000 square metre space.

The government of the Brussels-Capital Region has entrusted this foundation with the task of creating a public museum of modern and contemporary art. After the federal government refused to make available its collection from that period, the solution was to look for an international partner, eventually signing a five-year contract with France's Pompidou Centre.

"Since 2018, the KANAL Foundation has been creating a public collection of contemporary art for a museum that didn't exist until today. We thought it would be good to have an international partner and, after multiple contacts and discussions, it was with the Centre Pompidou that we decided to form a partnership", Goldstein recalled.

As well as showing works from the Parisian institution along with its own collection, the KANAL-Centre Pompidou aims to be an arts and cultural hub and stage music, dance and theatre performances.

The building will also be the new home for CIVA: a museum, library, archive and publishing house focusing on Belgian architecture from the mid-19th century to the 21st century, currently located in the Etterbeek district.

Creating beyond the museum's boundaries

Half of the facility will be set aside for people to enjoy amenities ranging from a restaurant and rooftop bar, a printshop, a library and even a children's playground.

Beyond the walls of the building, the centre will focus on the so-called ‘external project’ to promote social cohesion in nearby neighbourhoods with considerable socio-cultural diversity and pockets of poverty.

"It's not just about creating a place, opening the doors and saying 'come in'. It's also a whole process that the teams have been carrying out for over eight years now, working in schools, in neighborhood associations, in contact with young people, in the communities around us - Molenbeek, Laken, North Quarter - to co-create artistic or other projects", the director explained.

One example of that approach was a series of murals created by pupils from the Toots Tillemans secondary school in Molenbeek, working with an artist chosen by the Kanal Foundation.

Limited financial resources

To begin construction in 2018, the regional government allocated €150 million, excluding VAT, inflation, furniture, and equipment necessary for the museum's operation. Seven years later, the estimated cost of the project is around €235 million. The management team will have €35 million per year to run the institution, with a staff of around 100 people.

"The KANAL Foundation is aware of the region's financial difficulties, so it has been working on how we can make savings in our operating budget", Goldstein says.

"We are therefore considering a whole series of scenarios and trade-offs, if the subsidy were to be reduced, while trying to preserve as much as possible what has been the DNA of this project: culture for everyone, culture at the service of a social project", he adds.

The cultural programme will be unveiled to the press in the first quarter of 2026. Between then and the opening, KANAL-Centre Pompidou will be an institutional partner of the project that artist Miet Warlop will create to represent Belgium at the 61st Venice Biennale in May.