Museum Hof van Busleyden places the story of Mechelen within the wider world. Through a unique combination of the city's collections and its architectural heritage, we tell stories of universal relevance. By approaching the past with curiosity, playfulness and a critical eye, we explore, with a broad and diverse audience, what art and history can mean for the worlds of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Burgundian Mechelen, as the court and capital of the Burgundian Renaissance, has formed the central thread running through the exhibitions organised by the museum in recent years. The past is always viewed through a contemporary lens and with a strong awareness of social questions. Over the coming years, the museum will gradually broaden the historical period at the heart of its programme. It will also explore another defining chapter from Mechelen's past: Baroque: Mechelen As the Seat of the Catholic Church in the Southern Netherlands. These two themes reflect aspects of Mechelen’s history that extend far beyond the local story and connect with the broader history of the Low Countries, Europe and the world beyond. During the next policy period, the museum will also investigate the potential and relevance of two further themes: Mechelen and Modernism and The Memory of the City.
This broader approach will allow the museum to show a greater proportion of its own collection, both in temporary exhibitions and in longer-term displays. It will better reflect the size and diversity of the collection, too much of which has had to remain in storage through the previous policy period. For exhibitions and displays based on these themes, the museum will supplement its own collection with loans from Belgium and beyond. Priority will be given to exceptional works associated with Mechelen and no longer held in the city. To make these important loans possible the museum is actively building a network of institutions working on related subjects.
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