M HKA, the contemporary art museum of the Flemish Community, is ready to transform itself into a full-scale European contemporary art museum with a permanent collection display, exemplary exhibition spaces, a research wing and a public events forum. An architectural contest will be concluded for a new building towards the end of 2019. The new is scheduled to open in 2026. The transformation we are now embarking on will require an overhaul of all aspects of our work: programme, collections, research, communication, and organisational infrastructure.

The Associate Director will be part of the management team with the General Director, the Business Director, the Head of Collections & Research and the Head of Communication & Marketing. Reporting to the General Director, the Associate Director will lead the curatorial and production staff, the Cinema Zuid team and will relate proactively to the teams in charge of communication, marketing and public mediation.

The Associate Director will be accountable for the planning, execution and successful public positioning of the exhibition and public events programmes. These will have to balance three different aspirations. They will have to maintain M HKA’s international profile as an innovative institution. They will have to reach out to both broad and diverse audiences, and engage a larger range of visitors. They will have to combine these two challenges with a vivid interest in the artistic developments in today’s multipolar world and our vibrant segment of the western European scene – Antwerp and Flanders being part of ‘Eurocore’, the Benelux/Northern France/Rhineland region.

The annual exhibition programme comprises three large exhibitions, three medium-sized exhibitions, and small-scale presentations realised in dialogue with the constituencies of the museum (such as communities of artists, researchers and collectors or social movements). Currently, the public events programme consists of artist talks, the annual performance-based event Art’s Birthday, book presentations and other ad hoc events, as well as the film programming of Cinema Zuid.

The Associate Director will cooperate closely with the General Director in transforming M HKA towards a new horizon after 2026, in terms of programming as well as of organisational infrastructure and, not least, communication strategy. The Associate Director will be tasked with enhancing the profile of the institution through its public functions and strengthening the public events programmes in preparation for future operations.

This requires a person who is driven by art and its presence in society, who has a capacity to see both emerging developments and past potential that can be realised in the present, who has a relevant higher education and a good track record within the field of contemporary art, and who is an able organiser, stimulated by social interaction and able to coach and bring people together. This person should be a fluent speaker of English and Dutch – or be willing and able to learn Dutch relatively fast – and an accomplished writer and communicator. A good working knowledge of other languages, such as French, German, Russian, Chinese, Spanish or Arabic, would be a big plus.