Brussels (Belgium). We knew the date: November 28, 2026. Now, the opening of Kanal-Centre Pompidou is becoming even more concrete with the unveiling, this Wednesday, of the ten inaugural exhibitions of the future museum. Headlining, “A truly immense journey”, the first display exhibition co-curated with the Center Pompidou team. 350 works, from the collections of the Parisian institution, will interact with pieces from the Brussels collection and some external loans to offer a subjective journey through modern and contemporary art. Subsequently, the French partner will organize temporary monographic exhibitions, devoted among others to Sonia Delaunay and Matisse. Kanal also aims to reflect the cultural diversity bubbling up in Brussels and an art that can sharpen our view of contemporary society. “An infinite woman” revisits the circulation of images of Mangbetu women, from northeastern Congo, who have become colonial symbols and ethnographic fetishes and their overthrow by Afro-descendant artists who appropriated them. Particular attention will be devoted to emerging Belgian artists in projects with Joëlle Tuerlinckx and Manon de Boer. A large place is given to the performing arts with in particular “No show” where around twenty artists and performers will perform in the scenography of Deborah Bowmann and the soundscapes of Maoupa Mazzocchetti.
Kanal intends to blur the boundaries between museum and public spaces, through spectacular installations in free spaces with the participatory loom of Otobong Nkanga or the variation in inflated letters of the thirty articles of the Declaration of Human Rights by the Turkish artist Banu Cennetoglu which will float in the former showroom. Ten months before the opening, while the construction site is practically finished, there is still financial uncertainty linked to the absence of a Brussels regional government.
Still missing around sixty million to complete the project. “Solutions are on the table, all that is missing is the government’s decision in current affairs”assures Yves Goldstein. The general director of Kanal is optimistic: “ I don’t dare imagine anyone taking responsibility for bringing this to a sudden halt which will cost the Region much more than the 60 million needed to finish. » As for the operating budget, once Kanal has cast off, it will be up for discussion with the next government. The journey will be long.
