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 created the Aeromatic Art Project 1, a performance in which model helicopter pilots attempted to make their aircraft hover at the exact same spot in the air.

This project was part of a series of works exploring play, technology, and movement. It also referenced the age-old human dream of flight, a fascination that continues to thrive in media and video games.

Here, technology was used as an artistic material, with no symbolic references—the technique stood on its own.

The re-performance will take place on 01.06:
11:00 Zuidpark
16:00 Scheldeterras M HKA

This expert tour is a dialogue between Marc Holthof (former assistant and writer for Hugo Roelandt) and Joanna Zielińska (performance curator at M HKA).

We invite you to join a conversation about the exhibition and to explore an unconventional perspective on performance art through the lens of archives and museum collections.

Holthof will examine the historical and local context in which Roelandt created his work, while Zielińska will discuss 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.

Hugo Roelandt was not only an artist but also a teacher at the photography department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. He shared his knowledge and experience with students and viewed collaboration as an essential part of his artistic practice.

In this same spirit, we are launching an open call for current KASKA students to collectively reflect on the contemporary relevance of his work. We pose questions about the purpose of a 're-performance' in public space and offer them the opportunity to create and show their own interpretations during Antwerp Art Weekend.

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.

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: Julie Bierich and Julia Tröscher. 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.