Hugo Roelandt (Aalst 1950–Antwerp 2015) was a versatile artist, at various times a performer, installation artist and photographer, who from the mid-1970s was a significant figure of the post-war avant-garde in Antwerp. Roelandt did not confine himself to a single artistic genre or style. His performances, photographic series and interventions in public space were characterised by their diverse and sometimes contradictory nature.

Throughout his career, Roelandt sought to deconstruct traditional notions of art. He believed that art should reflect the complexities of contemporary life and societal issues rather than adhere to aesthetic orthodoxy. Key themes in his practice included body image and gender norms, automation, and the bourgeois nature of the artistic field.

The End is a New Beginning is Hugo Roelandt’s first museum overview exhibition, and will mark ten years since his passing. M HKA and CKV (Flanders Art Archive Centre) received the complete archive of Hugo Roelandt, which includes key artworks, and an array of material including documentation, notes, sketches, information on unrealised projects, as well as his personal library that served as an educational resource.

The first institutional solo exhibition of Özgür Kar in Belgium, MALAISE, features a new site-specific installation. The presentation includes theatrical sound and video installation that explores themes of collective unease, stagnation, and endurance.

Özgür Kar’s artistic practice operates at the intersection of theater, sound, sculpture, and animation. He creates immersive installations that prompt existential reflections on transience, isolation, and the cyclical nature of human experience. His distinctive visual language combines minimalist animation with intricate soundscapes and dark humor. By transforming video into sculptural objects, Kar challenges traditional boundaries between moving image, performance, sculpture, and installation.

His works can be seen as contemporary reinterpretations of medieval allegories and traditional animation techniques. He draws inspiration from a diverse range of sources, including medieval manuscripts, the Gothic tradition, minimalist musical compositions and absurdist theater. The characters in his animations are often trapped in endless loops, delivering soliloquies that resonate with a sense of existential anxiety and absurdity. The sound compositions, created in collaboration with musicians and voice actors, add additional layers of interpretation, deepening the immersive experience of his installations.

For MALAISE, Kar will create a site-specific installation consisting of a large-scale animation and a sound piece. This work marks a significant turning point in his practice, as he explores the architectural aspects of the space, the concept of theatricality through the use of scenographic elements such as light and sound, and themes of belonging and isolation—where emotions of closeness and estrangement remain in constant tension.

In 2017, M HKA reopened after an extensive renovation, showcasing a permanent collection presentation featuring reference artists, contemporary icons, historical pioneers, and key figures from the museum’s global collection. The collection is ever-evolving, reflecting the dynamic times we live in. In 2025, M HKA will present a renewed, focused collection showcasing approximately 30 key works by Flemish artists.

Among them are figures who have lived and worked in the region—such as Marcel Broodthaers, Panamarenko, Luc Tuymans, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Otobong Nkanga, and Laure Prouvost—alongside artists with ties to Flanders, including Marlene Dumas, Jimmie Durham, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Nicola L. They are presented in dialogue with international artists from the Collection of the Flemish Community, including Cady Noland, Barbara Kruger, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Taus Makhacheva, and Hüseyin Bahri Alptekin.

The collection presentation takes the postwar avant-garde in Antwerp as its starting point, using the past as a platform to explore the multipolar realities of both today and the future, structured around the three key angles of the collection: image, action, and society.

“Sculptors and scholars, who knows anything about the stars? Who can commune with the universe?”

These words introduce Panamarenko’s very first collage from 1964, constructed using text and image fragments from scientific American journals. This very question will run as a common thread through the artist’s oeuvre for the next forty years. From the 1970s onward, Panamarenko developed theoretical models for ‘closed systems,’ conducted empirical research on (electro)magnetism, constructed various spacecraft, and, by the early 1990s, formulated his comprehensive space theory, Toymodel of Space.

This event is organised as part of FRONT ROW, a monthly series of artist’s talks jointly organised by M HKA and NICC, screening Cécile B. Evans' Reality or Not’ (2023), followed by an artist talk.

Cécile B. Evans is an American-Belgian artist living and working in Saint-Denis. Evans’ work examines the value of emotion and its rebellion as it comes into contact with ideological, physical, and technological structures.

Evans’ work has been included amongst others at The Sharjah Biennial 16 (UE), Lafayette Anticipations (FR), Whitechapel Gallery (UK), Haus der Kunst (DE), Mito Art Tower (JP), Renaissance Society Chicago (US), the 7th International Moscow Biennale (RU), the 4th Ural Industrial Biennial (RU), Galerie Kamel Mennour (FR), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen (DK), the 9th Berlin Biennale (DE), the 20th Sydney Biennale (AUS), Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona (ES), and Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (FR).

Evans’ films have been screened in festivals such as the New York Film Festival and Rotterdam International. Public collections include The Museum of Modern Art, New York (US), The Rubell Family Collection, Miami (US), Whitney Museum of American Art (US), De Haallen (NL), Castello di Rivoli, Turin (IT), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen (DK), and FRAC Auvergne (FR).

Screening and artist talk: 29.05 19:00-21:00
Location: De Cinema (at De Studio, Maarschalk Gérardstraat 4, 2000 Antwerp)
Attendance is free, but reservation is required. Get your ticket here.

In 1981, Hugo Roelandt organized the performance Occupation of Groendalstraat in the center of Antwerp. A group of performers remained motionless at different points in the street, forcing passersby to navigate around them in order to continue walking.

Although the action was peaceful, reactions ranged from disapproval and curiosity to irritation. Roelandt’s work often focused on forces that shape both individual and collective behavior. This intervention, which disrupted the flow of movement, can be interpreted as a critique of capitalism and our unconscious commitment to this system.

The work will be re-performed on 31.05 In collaboration with: KASKA students. Timing will be announced shortly.
Location: Groendalstraat, 2000 Antwerp

In 1983, Hugo Roelandt premiered the Aeromatic Art Project 1, a performance in which model helicopter pilots attempted to keep their aircraft hovering in exactly the same spot in the air. This project was part of a series of works about play, technology and movement. It also referred to the old human dream of flight, a fascination that lives on in the media and video games. Here, technology was used as artistic material without symbolic references – the technology was present in its own right.

The performance, with Wase Model Helicopters Club, will take place on 01.06:

11:00-11:15, Zuidpark (public space near the M HKA), Vlaamsekaai, 2000 Antwerp.
16:00-16:15, M HKA, the event takes place on the rooftop terrace.

This expert tour is a dialogue between Marc Holthof, formerly Hugo Roelandt’s assistant and writer, and Joanna Zielińska, performance curator at M HKA. We invite you to participate in a conversation about the exhibition and discover an unconventional perspective on performance art through the lens of the archive and the museum collection. Holthof will investigate the historical and local context in which Roelandt created his work, while Zielińska discusses the challenges of archiving ephemeral art.

The tour takes place on 01.06 14:00, participation is free with a valid museum ticket, reserve your spot here.

During this walk-in tour, a guide will take you on a 90-minute journey through the exhibition, the collection wing, and some hidden gems in unexpected places within the museum.

A walk-in tour at M HKA is an encounter with grandmasters, but just as much an introduction to bold new talent.

The tour takes place 31.05 11:15-12:45. Reservation required, claim your spot here, tickets are €20,00 access to the museum is included in the ticket.

From 1974 to 1982, cultural centre King Kong was a vibrant space in Antwerp where film, debate, and activism came together. In addition to offering a broad spectrum of film classics and contemporary auteur cinema, King Kong also served as a platform for socially critical documentaries, feminist films, queer cinema, and revolutionary Third Cinema.

The program was curated by the organisation De Andere Film (DAF), which focused on films outside the commercial circuit, often accompanied by introductions and debates that explored both current events and the ideological undercurrents of the films.

This archive presentation, a collaboration between M HKA and the University of Antwerp (Master of Theatre and Film Studies), focuses on the unique role King Kong played in Antwerp’s cultural landscape. As part of the course Research Seminar in Film History, students reconstruct the history of King Kong’s film activities based on the rich DAF archive, which was donated to M HKA in 2023.

This archive, which includes an extensive collection of film posters, offers new insights into the workings of the film house and highlights its societal influence.

This archive presentation was curated by:

Maurits Callewaert, Luna Cortes Osorio, Yana De Gryse, Nora El Sayed, Noortje De Meyere, Willem Luyten, Hannah Matthys, Marie-Julie Van de Sijpe, Amélie Vanhaecht, and Marie Wens (students MA in Theatre and Film Studies, University of Antwerp), under the supervision of Dr. Liesje Baltussen and Prof. Dr. Steven Jacobs.

During Antwerp Art Weekend, M HKA shows a collaborative project with third-year BA students from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.

Besides being an artist, Hugo Roelandt also worked as a lecturer in the photography department of
the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp. He shared his knowledge and experience with students
and viewed collaboration as an essential element of his practice. In the same spirit, M HKA is launching
an open call for current students at the school, inviting them to reflect on the contemporary
relevance of his work. During Antwerp Art Weekend, they will showcase some of the students' ideas.

An English-language audio tour inspired by the work of Hugo Roelandt, by Bernadette Zdrazil and Tibo Vergote, students of the Educational Master's program at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp

An experimental audio tour that guides the visitor during their visit to the Hugo Roelandt exhibition. We provide you with a series of simple instructions to follow in the exhibition: "If you do exactly what we say, then you create the piece yourself." In this audio tour, the audience is challenged to move through the exhibition as a performer. Visitors are given the opportunity to actively participate and make choices within the exhibition.

31.05, 11:00-17:00, 2 nd floor: Hugo Roelandt (in English)

In the Salon on the first floor, you can engage in research and play. Here, you'll find materials and
tasks inspired by the artistic practices of Hugo Roelandt and Panamarenko.

Between 14:00 and 16:00, join our guide Nele as you dive into the world of Hugo Roelandt. During this session, you'll explore his bold style with a dress-up and photo session full of expression and experimentation. Play, push your boundaries, and colour outside the lines!

For Antwerp Art Weekend's 11th anniversary, M HKA functions as the central location. Here you can visit our official Antwerp Art Info Point, and participate in a special project showcasing new works by the laureates of the 2024 Antwerp Art Graduation Prize: Julia Tröscher, Juli Bierich and Emma Mann. Celebrate the kick-off of our 11th edition, with a banging opening party in the museum on Thursday May 29, from 21:00-01:00.

M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art is Antwerp’s museum for art, film and visual culture in the widest sense. Since 1987, M HKA has been housed in a converted warehouse in Antwerp’s South district, and possesses 4000 square metres of exhibition space devoted to art from 1960s to the present day. It offers a space of encounter for the public and the artistic community alike with contemporary art, bridging the international and the regional, culture and society, tradition and innovation, reflection and presentation.

The museum presents ambitious large-scale monographic and group exhibitions, and various other medium- and small-scale presentations, including displays of its collection. M HKA plays a leading role in Flanders, having developed an international profile built upon Antwerp's avant-garde tradition of the post-war era. It is a cultural-heritage institution of the Flemish community and possesses a world-class collection of contemporary art. Its house for film De Cinema is located at the cultural meeting point De Studio on Mechelseplein.