At the request of the city of Antwerp, the Antwerp artist Guillaume Bijl created the artwork Saluting Admiral Couple for the fifth anniversary of the MAS. The work gives the monumental building a playful and surprising touch.
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.
In 1873, the Antwerp Museum of Antiquities purchased a 16th-century retable of the Averbode Abbey, depicting the Lamentation of Christ. 150 years later, it is given on long-term loan to the abbey and thus returns home.
Along the frayed fault line between the city and port lies a raw and rusty area. For many Antwerp residents, this represents a blind spot on the map. However, this area oozes history linked to the once bustling in-city port.
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.
Together with the MAS, theatre producer, writer and actor Dimitri Leue gathered stories from the collection and the city for the new exhibition 'Listen'. He wrote a compelling audio play that you can listen to in the exhibition. Tine Embrechts plays the role of Kameleonie.
