Kanal-Centre Pompidou opens a new chapter for contemporary culture in Brussels

This November, Kanal-Centre Pompidou opens its doors in Brussels, marking a defining moment for the Brussels art scene. Housed in a vast former Citroën factory along the city’s canal, the new museum launches on November 28th, 2026, unveiling one of Europe’s most ambitious cultural projects dedicated to modern and contemporary art.

Kanal-Centre Pompidou: a museum built for the city

Conceived as an open, interdisciplinary institution, Kanal-Centre Pompidou responds to a long-standing need for a contemporary art space at metropolitan scale. Spanning 40,000 square metres across five floors, the museum brings together exhibitions, performances, workshops, and study spaces under one roof, positioning itself as both a cultural landmark and a civic meeting place. Its artistic director, Kasia Redzisz, has framed the project as an institution designed to hold, question, and evolve with creativity already present in the city.

Brussels art scene: an inaugural programme at scale

The opening year features a ten-exhibition programme presenting works by more than 250 artists, blending historic figures with contemporary voices. The headline exhibition, A Truly Immense Journey, explores themes of movement and migration through over 350 works from the Centre Pompidou’s collection, including pieces by Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, and Wolfgang Tillmans. Alongside it, projects such as An Infinite Woman: Black Archives in Two Acts and NO SHOW foreground overlooked narratives and question the role of the museum itself. A live art programme includes Miet Warlop’s exhibition-performance following its presentation at the Venice Biennale.

From industrial monument to public space

The museum’s architecture preserves the monumental scale of the former factory while opening it to public life. The retrofit, led by EM2N, noAarchitecten, and Sergison Bates, maintains the building’s four entrances and central nave, conceived as a space for civic gathering. More than 12,000 square metres are dedicated to exhibition galleries, complemented by a 400-seat auditorium, library, archives, and social spaces including a café, restaurant, and bookshop. An indoor playground designed by Turner Prize–winning collective Assemble reinforces the idea of the museum as a place for all ages.

With half of its programming free to access and extended opening hours, Kanal-Centre Pompidou positions itself not only as a major new museum, but as an active participant in everyday urban life—reshaping the Brussels art scene from the inside out.