Kim Oosterlinck, 50, with a degree in art history and a doctorate in economics and management from the Free University of Brussels, held a chair in cultural management and then the position of vice-rector in charge of foresight and financing. He took an active part in the “ProvEnhance” project dedicated to research into the provenance of works acquired in Belgium around the Second World War. Arriving in July at the head of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, he details his ambitions for the Brussels museum complex.
What will be the first visible changes at the Royal Museums?
We are starting major renovation work in the extensions which we currently use as a storage facility. For this, certain sections will be inaccessible and only the museum of ancient art will remain open. I therefore asked the curators to think about the route of this museum of ancient art to make it a museum of fine arts covering the periods from the 15th to the 21st century and to move away from the compartmentalization that had been the rule until now .
Does this decompartmentalization that you are calling for allow different perspectives on the works?
Yes, I think it’s interesting to see how works from different eras influence each other. Sometimes we do not see elements of influence directly, we guess them through confrontation. It also allows us to approach themes in a transversal way, differently understood by artists over time.
You also want to bring in a new audience, in particular by reinforcing diversity and inclusiveness in the works you show…
We still have a lot of work to do on inclusion, on what a Belgian fine arts museum is. Belgium has evolved: how do we show this diversity in the museum? All of this is also part of the things we need to work on.
With consequences on the acquisition policy?
Indeed, I asked my curators to point out the gaps for their period. This may concern an important artist, or a type of work that we do not have. These may be more structural gaps, linked to gender for example. We want to devote our meager acquisition budgets to strengthening coherence in the collection.
Does this involve taking another look at objects in the collection that have never or rarely been shown?
Has taste evolved, and do we want to show what is up to date? Generally speaking, we only show a small fraction of our collections. The museum curators will therefore integrate into their reflection on the museum journey the principle of a rotation approximately every two years of 10% of the collection on the basis of a theme that can offer a new perspective. By evoking freedom, for example, we can see how it is expressed over this or that period, and through which paintings. So, we will look at them differently. It’s also a way for me to show the Belgian and international public that, in fact, they haven’t seen everything yet.
Your background is quite eclectic. Has this eclecticism led to a more transversal vision and approach?
There is a desire to be more interdisciplinary, to cross points of view, to not only adopt an art historian’s point of view, but also to think in terms of the social history of the arts, for a more global reflection on the object. Conduct reflections that range from provenance to conservation through non-invasive techniques to understand (the process of) creating works of art.
Does this match your desire to highlight ongoing research in a museum, which is also a scientific institution?
Indeed, we also do research in art history, as in social history. This is a message that is close to my heart and which is difficult to convey. We can reflect on the purely aesthetic and iconographic aspects and also on what a collection is, on collectors, dealers, critics, on the reception of works and the evolution of taste. Furthermore, a large part of the museum is made up of gifts, donations, which arrived gradually. It is extremely interesting to understand the origin of these donations and what were the motivations of the donors. For the museum, but also, I hope, for the public.
