Brussels regional agencies mull potential move for Mima museum

Brussels development agencies hub.bussels and citydev.brussels are looking for a way to save the capital’s iconic Mima (Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art) from permanent closure, by looking into options for a new home.

This was the response of secretary of state Barbara Trachte (Ecolo) in response to a question from Open VLD MP Imane Belguenani at a recent economic affairs committee meeting.

Belguenani's parliamentary question asked to what extent the two regional agencies had defended the museum, that opened its doors momentously in March 2016, shortly after the Brussels attacks.

Trachte said that between the question and the meeting in parliament, the agencies had already been considering a possible relocation for the pioneering, vibrant museum that has attracted 400,000 visitors to the former premises of Molenbeek’s Belle-Vue brasserie.

French artist Jean Jullien’s show was most attended, with 44,850 visitors and 2019 was the museum’s best year with 61,800 visitors attracted to the Dream Box and Obsessions exhibitions. Two other groundbreaking exhibitions were the boxing extravaganza Local Heroes and Art is Comic.

In October, the museum announced that it needed to close at the end of the last exhibition, of Portuguese artist Vhils, on 5 January 2025.

The construction works on the Quai de l’Hainaut have caused severe access problems and resulted in a dramatic decrease in visitor numbers, with no date in sight for the works to finish.

The French community already made clear in early September that it could not save Mima. “It is not possible to release the funds,” said Elisabeth Degryse (Les Engagés), minister-president of the French-speaking community and responsible for culture.