KANAL - Centre Pompidou is museum for modern and contemporary art located in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium, near the

Brussels–Charleroi Canal The Brussels–Charleroi Canal, also known as the Charleroi Canal amongst other similar names, (french: canal Bruxelles-Charleroi, nl, kanaal Brussel-Charleroi) is an important canal in Belgium. The canal is quite large, with a Class IV Freyc ...

, in the former buildings of a Citroën garage. The definitive opening is scheduled for 2023.

Building

The building is a former garage built for the

Citroën Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...

company between 1933 and 1934 under the direction of the French architect with Belgian architects and . It was modified in 1954 by Louis Hoebeke. The building occupies most of the block that is enclosed by the Square Sainctelette/Sainctelettesquare, the Quai des Péniches/Akenkaai, the Quai de la Voire/Ruimingskaai and the Quai de Willebroec/Willebroekkaai. The former showroom, on the corner of the Square Sainctelette and the place d'Yser/IJzerplein was a single, 21-metre high volume with a glass facade. In the 1950s several floors were added to the showroom The building is included in the inventory of architectural heritage of the Brussels-Capital Region. On 28 March 2017 the Urban Development Corporation (SAU-MSI) of the Brussels-Capital Region launched an international design competition for the €125 million conversion to a museum. The jury selected a proposal, ''A Stage for Brussels'' by noAarchitecten, EM2N and

Sergison Bates architects Sergison Bates architects is an architectural practice with an office in London and Zürich. It was founded by Jonathan Sergison (born 1964) and Stephen Bates (born 1964) in 1996 in London. In addition to the two founding partners, their long stan ...

History

Plans for a museum by the

Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal The Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal (commonly named in various ways including Willebroek Canal and Brussels-Willebroek canal), is a canal in Belgium linking Brussels with the Scheldt river and ultimately the sea. The 28 km long canal has a ...

were first proposed in 2014. The government of the Brussels-Capital Region hoped to use works from the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...

, but failed to garner support for using the federal art collection. In March 2015, the government of the Brussels-Capital Region and

Groupe PSA The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...

reached an agreement for the sale of the site. The sale, for €20.5 million was finalized on 29 October 2015. When the museum was unable to use works from the federal art collection, it partnered with the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

to provide artworks and knowhow. The Centre Pompidou will receive €11 million for 10 years, of which €2 million will be allocated for staff in Paris.

Kanal Brut

Prior to the renovation and definitive opening in 2023, Kanal pre-opened in May 2018 with an event called ''Kanal Brut'', curated by

Bernard Blistène Bernard Blistène (born 1955) is a French art curator. From 2013 to 2021 he was the director of the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'Art moderne. Together with and Christine Macel, ArtReview ranked him the 21st in their annual ranking of the ...

, with works from the collection of the Centre Pompidou and a film studio designed by

Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...

. The museum closed for renovations in June 2019.

References

Museums in Brussels Art museums and galleries in Belgium Art museums established in 2017 {{Europe-art-display-stub