The Eilandje was the place where people gathered on their way to the New World. The magnificent Red Star Line steamers moored on the quay just before the bend in the Scheldt River. When the steam whistle announced an impending departure, the quay swarmed with activity. The Eilandje is currently a sought after place in the city.
Pierre-Yves Kairis (b. 1958) is a doctor of art history at the Université de Liège. He was closely involved in the restoration of “The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine,” a painting by Michaelina Wautier.
In 2024, we selected a dental collection to perform a valuation on. There was no knowledge within the MAS about the provenance and history of this collection. It was not clear whether these objects had a place within the collection plan.
The MAS started digitizing its collection of thousands of slides. These slides that used to be projected with a magic lantern, are finally seeing the light of day again.
The freeing of the Scheldt was a landmark event in Flemish history. In mid-1863, Antwerp celebrated that after more than 250 years, merchant shipping on the Scheldt was truly free again. A telling painting of this ‘Scheldt Free!’ celebration from the MAS collection can be seen in our Visible Storage.
Thanks to intensive restoration, a large float was prepared for the exhibition 'Listen. Stories found in the city'. You can read about how the restoration of this piece was carried out and what choices were made here.
