Programme highlights
On Saturday 5 August 2023, 19 museums will open their doors with a special programme. Be surprised, fascinated, entertained and moved by performances, music, workshops and more. Whether you prefer a silent film with live piano or a deafening karaoke hit that you simply must sing along to, there's something for everyone! Between 7 pm and 1 am, the participating museums welcome you with open arms; from 1am you can continue your evening at the afterparty in the MAS.
Get a quick taste of what Museum Night has to offer you below, but above all, put together your own menu from the complete programme overview! If you don't speak Dutch (very well), you can filter the activities based on their required understanding of the Dutch language. Yummy for everyone's tummy!
Feeling lucky during Museum Night?
Then take your chance and win! In DIVA, a few lucky people will find a real little diamond at the bottom of their glass of bubbles; in the M HKA, happiness may be found at the bottom of the ball pit. Answer a few questions about Rubens in the Snijders&Rockox House and win an exclusive art-and-dinner arrangement or receive something beautiful from the FOMU shop by snapping the most original photo!
During Museum Night you can also create yourself.
You can pimp your own totebag in Man Ray-style at MoMu and make your own ex-libris, inspired by that of Fritz at the Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
In the M HKA you can release your inner child - balloon in your hand, tiger or butterfly painted on your face, a chocolate sandwich to play with and off you go!
Mature enough to decide for yourself? Maybe you want to immortalize heritage on your skin? In the FOMU you will find temporary stick-on tattoos, inspired by their Grace Ndiritu exhibition; in the MAS, Doe Ta Ni Tattoe is happy to put a unique, hand poked and very permanent memento on your skin.
You don't have to be a doer to enjoy Museum Night. Watching someone else do something can also be fun - especially if they do it exceptionally well!
You can watch academy students drawing in the Saint-Paul’s Church and you can see famous cartoonists live at work in Museum De Reede. Also in Museum De Reede, Atelier Splinter will demonstrate the most diverse graphic techniques throughout the evening - etching, litho, mezzo, anyone?
In DIVA you can marvel at a professional diamond polishing demonstration.
Museum Night is the evening par excellence to catch an artistic performance.
In the Red Star Line Museum, female artists Bumba, Sumaya Chekkali and Rose-Myrtha Vercammen work with the concept of 'homesickness'. The performance of Ignace Cami can be seen, and especially heard, twice in the M HKA as part of his exhibition. Poet Woortgat performs in Museum Mayer van den Bergh, where she finds inspiration in the works of Brueghel - and the input of the public!
Fan of a dash of music in a museum setting? Good news!
Go around the world in 72 songs with soprano Lieselot Dewilde and her barrel organ in AMUZ; or travel back to Antwerp in the 17th century with Gene Bervoets at the Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience - the songs of 'Het Mengelmoes' are anything but demure!
In Museum Vleeshuis, tthe band WÖR brings 18th-century melodies to 2023 and later in the evening the Anke Ludwig Quartet takes you on jazzy dreams, but their kick-off of Museum Night is given by the colorful city fanfare 't Akkoord!
You will find more fanfare in and around the Maagdenhuis, where you can also visit a small exhibition about the musical corps of the orphanage.
Prefer classical music? Or rather the opposite? In Saint-Paul's Church, with its mighty acoustics, soloist Leo Adamov gives it his best on violin; trendy DJs can be found at FOMU, KMSKA, M HKA and MoMu. And in the MAS of course, before and during the afterparty!
Lots to see, little time? A typical Museum Night dilemma. With a speed tour you don't have to choose!
Take one in the FOMU, the Snijders&Rockox House and in the Saint-Andrew’s or Saint-Paul’s Church. In DIVA and Museum De Reede you can even take a special crash course in one masterpiece. Would you like to find out which work really matches you? The matchmaker in Museum Mayer van den Bergh will be happy to help you with a date!
Would you rather take a unique tour? You can exceptionally walk through previously inaccessible rooms of the oldest preserved building in the city, Het Steen. In Museum Plantin-Moretus, a guide will be happy to tell you all about the night life in the house and the printing company. Follow the guide through the magic of twilight in old and modern masters at the KMSKA or take an Instagram tour for the perfect selfie - don't forget to tag Museum Night!
Are you out with little ones? You were also thought of!
Get creative in various ateliers: craft away in the open atelier at the KMSKA, make a lucky charm/protector in the MAS and experiment with stop motion in the Red Star Line Museum. Or maybe you prefer to go on a scavenger hunt in the Plantin-Moretus Museum and in Saint-Andrew's Church?
A refreshing ice cream at Snijder&Rockox House probably sounds perfect for everyone, regardless their age.
Not the indoorsy type? Head out!
Follow historic brass ensemble Oltremontano on their musical journey. They start and end at Museum Plantin-Moretus, but in between they also stop at AMUZ, the MoMu and Saint-Andrew's Church. Would you like to learn more about Antwerp's rich fashion history? Then join a 'Fashion & Sustainability' tour with a MoMu guide who will tell you how sustainability is intertwined with Antwerp fashion.
No idea where to start? Cycle through Museum Night with the guides from Cyclant and Expeditie De Stad on a fascinating route, including visits to the Mayer van den Bergh Museum, the M HKA and Saint-Andrew’s Church. Listen to their favourite city stories and soak up the unique atmosphere of Museum Night.
During Museum Night, AmuseeVous breaks through your (digital) bubble! We may seem more connected than ever before, surrounded by modern technologies, but aren't we mainly connected to people who look like us, 'like' the same thing? And aren't we mostly alone, behind our screens? Have your view of your surroundings changed by a young artist at the KMSKA, Museum Plantin-Moretus, Saint-Andrew's Church or the Snijders&Rockox House. Refreshing perspectives guaranteed!