Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp

The Flemish Community decided in 1982 to establish the M HKA. Het Zuid seemed the ideal location for the new museum: the presence of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, the province's plans to also establish a museum for photography (the current Antwerp Photo Museum, FOMU), the ample parking options on the Subdued Zuiderdokken, the presence of important galleries, and the proximity of the Scheldt. In 1985, a former grain silo in Leuvenstraat was purchased and work could begin. The collection now includes more than 6,500 works by big names such as Kutlug Ataman, Francis Alÿs, Marlène Dumas, Jan Fabre, and objects, including a series of Polaroids by Luc Tuymans. In the last few years, several ensembles have been purchased, including those by Sergei Bratkov, Jimmie Durham and Wilhelm Sasnal. But purchases from artists from places where contemporary art is much less evident are also not avoided: for example from the Egyptian Amal Kenawy or from the Indian NS Harsha. The M HKA also has the Vrielynck collection, a collection of pre-cinema and film hardware of international importance.