On 28 November 2026, Brussels wil be welcoming a new museum of modern and contemporary art: Kanal. The cultural institution has announced a great and entirely free opening weekend to celebrate the occasion.
Brussels’ Kanal is widely regarded as one of the most anticipated cultural novelties of the year. The Kanal-Centre Pompidou Museum, as the museum is called, has been in the making since 2017. At that time, a structural partnership agreement was established between Centre Pompidou, the Brussels-Capital Region, and the Kanal Foundation in order to create a new multidisciplinary cultural hub. within the former Citroën garage at Place de l’Yser in Brussels.
After almost ten years, the building works have finally entered the last stage and the museum is getting ready to open on 28 November 2026.
“Kanal opens a new chapter in the cultural history of Brussels and beyond. Conceived as a museum from the outset, the institution emerges in a city marked by artistic intensity and institutional absence: a place where contemporary practices have long flourished without a museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Kanal is founded in response to this condition – not as a corrective, but as a proposition,” stated Kasia Redzisz, Artistic director at Kanal-Centre Pompidou.
During the opening weekend, Kanal opens its doors on Saturday 28 November at 10:00 am and remains open without interruption until Sunday 29 November at 10:00 pm. During that time, the building itself will be open and fully accessible to everyone, no reservations or tickets required. A non-stop programme will feature live performances, opening ceremonies, concerts and DJ sets, films and installations, as well as workshops for kids and families.
Those who wish to visit the ten opening exhibitions, however, will need to book a time slot in advance. Nevertheless, even those tickets will be free of charge on 28 and 29 November. There are 24 time slots available spread over the weekend, offering room for upwards of 30,000 visitors.
Spread over 40,000 square metres – making it one of Europe’s largest museums – visitors of Kanal will find ten exhibitions, as well as a bakery, restaurant, rooftop bar, and museum shop. One of the main collections will be ‘A Truly Immense Journey’, featuring 350 works of art, 80% of which are part of the collection of Centre Pompidou in Paris. While most exhibitions will be accessible from 28 November onwards, the architecture centre and collections will open later due to a fire in July 2026.
“Ten exhibitions to open Kanal. Ten exhibitions to provide a first answer to an open-ended question: what is the role of a museum of art and architecture in the 21st century? What is the purpose of Kanal at a time when the spectre of extremism and dreams of empire are returning? What is the use of Kanal when human intelligence is being challenged by machines? What is the point of Kanal at a time of increasingly polarised identity politics? What is the meaning of Kanal in a world that is simultaneously burning and drowning? Everything and nothing at the same time,” said Yves Goldstein, director-general at Kanal-Centre Pompidou.
Before the opening, Kanal will be welcoming nearly 5,000 children from 27 neighbourhood schools throughout the Brussels-Capital Region. According to the museum, the symbolic gesture highlights Kanal’s commitment to build the new museum together with – and for – the publics of tomorrow.
