Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art

Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (MIMA)
Exterior of the museum
Interactive fullscreen map
Established15 April 2016 (2016-04-15)
Dissolved5 January 2025 (2025-01-05)
LocationQuai du Hainaut / Henegouwenkaai 41,
1080 Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Coordinates50°51′4″N 4°20′17″E / 50.85111°N 4.33806°E / 50.85111; 4.33806
TypeContemporary art
DirectorRaphael Cruyt
CuratorAlice Van Den Abeele
Nearest car parkParking Brunfaut, Rue Fernand Brunfaut / Fernand Brunfautstraat 18,
1080 Brussels
Websitewww.mimamuseum.eu

The Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (MIMA) was a contemporary art museum in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, a municipality of Brussels, Belgium. Privately owned and operated as a non-profit, it was founded in 2016 and housed in the former Belle-Vue Brewery at 41, quai du Hainaut/Henegouwenkaai, along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal. The museum closed permanently in 2025.

History

Opened on 15 April 2016, the museum was established in the former Belle-Vue Brewery, a four-storey building dating from 1916, located along the Brussels–Charleroi Canal in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean. The museum was privately financed at a cost of €18 million by the developer Jean-Paul Pütz, with contributions of artworks from seven collectors. It operated with an annual budget of around €600,000.[1]

MIMA was directed by Alice van den Abeele and Raphaël Cruyt, who launched the project as a non-profit to address the lack of public contemporary art museums in Belgium. Over the years, the museum hosted 17 exhibitions and welcomed more than 400,000 visitors, showcasing artists such as Momo, FAILE, David Shrigley, Barry McGee,[2] and, in its final exhibition, Vhils.[3] Since 2021, a pedestrian footbridge over the canal has linked the museum directly to the City of Brussels' side, improving access.[4][5][6]

Despite earlier plans for expansion, the museum announced its closure in October 2024 after a sudden drop of over 50% in visitor numbers. The decline followed the unexpected closure of the Quai du Hainaut for repairs, cutting off road access to the museum. With the works estimated to last years, MIMA declared its operation "no longer viable". Two planned exhibitions were cancelled, and on 5 January 2025, the museum closed permanently following the final weekend of its Multitude exhibition.[3]

Exhibitions

Exhibitions include:[7]

  • 15.04 – 24.12.2016: City Lights, artists: Maya Hayuk, Swoon, MOMO and FAILE
  • 03.02 – 28.05.2017: A FRIENDLY TAKEOVER,[8] artist: Boris Tellegen aka DELTA
  • 23.06 – 31.12.2017: Art Is Comic, artists: Brecht Vandenbroucke, Mon Colonel & Spit, Brecht Evens, HuskMitNavn,[9] Jean Jullien and Joan Cornellà
  • 26.01 – 22.04.2018: Wonderland,[10] artists: Akay and Olabo
  • 09.05.2018 – 06.01.2019: Get Up Stand Up, exhibition of protest posters, curator: Michaël Lellouche, installation by Julio Le Parc: Strike the officers created in 1971
  • 01.02 – 01.09.2019: Dream Box,[11] artists: Felipe Pantone, Hell'O,[12] Escif, Elzo Durt and Gogolplex
  • 27.09.2019 – 05.01.2020: Obsessions,[13] exhibitions of Art Brut in collaboration with La 'S' Grand Atelier
  • 31.01.2020 – 03.01.2021: Zoo,[14] artists: Parra, Pablo Dalas (FR), Egle Zvirblyte (LTU), Todd James (US), Russell Maurice (UK), MARTÍ SAWE (ES), Ryan Travis Christian (US), Rhys Lee (AUS), Finsta (SW), Laurent Impeduglia (BE), Jérémy Bobel (FR), Guillaume Fluzin (FR), Robin Divrande (FR), Paul Follezou (FR), Félix Reuter (FR) and Steven Harrington (US)
  • 31.01 – 30.05.2021: Verisimilitude,[15] artists: Félix Luque Sánchez in collaboration with Damien Gernay and Iñigo Bilbao Lopategui
  • 26.06.2021 – 09.01.2022: Double Bill,[16] exhibition of ABC porn cinema archives in collaboration with Cinéma Nova, Brussels, and exhibition of posters by the artist Laurent Durieux
  • 04.02 – 29.05.2022: MIMA reload, exhibition of the museum collection
  • 24.06.2022 – 08.01.2023: Invader Rubikcubist,[17] artist: Invader
  • 03.02 – 28.05.2023: Local Heroes, exhibition in the form of performance and introduction to boxing with fights organised in the museum. In partnership with the BBA and IBP clubs, artists: Rocio Alvarez, Dave Decat, Yannick Jacquet & Antoine Bertin, Edouard Valette, Christopher de Béthune and Kenza Vandeput-Taleb
  • 31.06 – 31.12.2023: Jean Jullien: Studiolo,[18] artist: Jean Jullien
  • 02.02 – 26.05.2024: Popcorn,[19] artists: Mrzyk et Moriceau, Pol-Edouard, Fabien Karp, Gary Card, Adèle Aproh, Elene Usdin, Michael Polakowski, Julien Colombier, Amandine Urruty, Delphine Somers, Antoine Carbonne, Davor Gromilovic, Nina Vandeweghe, Silio Durt
  • 28.06.2024 – 05.01.2025: Multitude,[20] artist: Vhils

See also

References

  1. ^ Carvajal, Doreen (31 May 2016). "In Brussels, Art Museum Brings Hope to Muslim Neighborhood of Molenbeek". New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  2. ^ McGivern, Hannah (19 March 2016). "Private museum pops up to fill a gap in Brussels". The Art Newspaper. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b Service, Flanders News (4 January 2025). "Final weekend for Brussels' MIMA museum ahead of permanent closure". belganewsagency.eu. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  4. ^ "La passerelle "Porte de Ninove" posée au-dessus du canal de Bruxelles". Beliris (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Bruxelles: deux passerelles cyclo-piétonnes inaugurées au-dessus du canal". Le Soir (in French). 4 September 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  6. ^ Vanwelde, Aurélie (4 September 2021). "Deux nouvelles passerelles cyclo-piétonnes au-dessus du canal pour relier Molenbeek et Bruxelles-Ville". BX1 (in French). Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  7. ^ "Exhibitions". Mima Museum. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  8. ^ par, Dossier réalisé (10 November 2023). "Prophète du street art, Boris Tellegen investit le Mima". La Libre.be (in French). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  9. ^ "HuskMitNavn". huskmitnavn. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  10. ^ "MIMA Wonderland ou l'art de la rébellion". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Enter the Dream Box and have fun at MIMA in Brussels!". vrtnws.be. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Juxtapoz Magazine - Hell'O Collective: Exploring the Collaborative Process". www.juxtapoz.com. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Obsessions". Focus (in French). 25 September 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Et si on se faisait une expo ? - ZOO au MIMA à Bruxelles". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  15. ^ "L'exposition 'Verisimilitude' au Mima, notre réalité à travers le prisme des nouvelles technologies". RTBF (in French). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  16. ^ "Expo: le Mima voit double". Le Soir (in French). 3 August 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  17. ^ Verlinden, Michel (25 June 2022). "Interview avec Invader, l'artiste anonyme qui pixellise les rues". Focus (in French). Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Jean Jullien. Studiolo". Le Soir (in French). 26 September 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  19. ^ Buis, Alice (9 January 2024). "POPCORN". Mima Museum. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  20. ^ Buis, Alice (3 June 2024). "MULTITUDE". Mima Museum. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
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