The museum on the Belgian coast is dedicated to our fishermen and their history. Visitors will find a diverse art collection featuring seascapes and scenes of fishing life, by James Ensor, Edgard Farasyn and Louis Spilliaert, among others. Contemporary artists such as Koenraad Tinel and Stephan Vanfleteren juxtapose that classic gallery with their take on fishing life. Beachcomber Aaron Fabrice de Kisangani provided a contemporary art display.
NAVIGO exhibits from the Antwerp city collection include back-glass paintings, fishermen's alames, figurines of fishing types, 16th-century weapons and a tile tableau.
Morion (helmet), 1550-1599
Internal combustion engine D.A.N., 1905
The fishmonger, Willem van Mieris, 1725
A unique piece is a Danish glow-head engine, which was brought to the fisheries school in Ostend by Paster Pype in 1905. The internal combustion engine was then a novelty on ships, and served as didactic material. 120 years later, the engine has been refurbished by MAS volunteers.