Mission & Profile

Mission

M is a museum founded and subsidised by the City of Leuven and has the legal status of an autonomous municipal company. M continues the municipal museum operations that started in the early 19th century. It maintains a number of exhibition spaces and a collection that grew historically.

Embedded in the City of Leuven, the region and Flanders, M is a professional cultural player that brings the past, present and future together through:

• Comprehensive operations based on the development of various aspects of visual culture;
• The innovative treatment of its unique, nationally significant collection with regard to collecting, managing, researching and exhibiting works of art;
• The constant stimulation of innovation and creativity;
• Conducting dialogues with key organisations;
• Finding affiliation with a diverse audience, both locally and internationally.

Consequently, M’s operations are lively, hospitable and internationally oriented. Moreover, it is a creative hotspot where art and artists play a societal role. M strives to contribute to the universal sense that artists and art institutions provide a substantial contribution to the social development of the community.

By Flemish comparisons, M is a medium-sized museum that occupies a position just below the size of the art-historical (municipal) museums of Bruges, Gent and Antwerp and the two museums for contemporary art (S.M.A.K. and MuHKA), but which should, in time, approach their standards in terms of its character and operations. On the Flemish level, M is striving to become a representative institution with strong organisational, cultural, scientific and technical expertise.

Profile

M - Museum Leuven, opened its doors in September 2009. The impressive, streamlined museum building, situated in the heart of the city, is a real eye-catcher. The complex as a whole, designed by renowned Belgian architect Stéphane Beel, integrates existing historical buildings with contemporary architecture built around a stately old oak in a peaceful interior court. From the roof of the museum, you have a splendid view of the city. A must-see on your journey of discovery in Leuven!

Be sure to visit the Treasury of St. Peter’s Church as well, in one of the most beautiful examples of 15th-century Brabantine high gothic. The impressive ambulatory is furnished as a museum; the numerous sculptures, paintings and fine examples of the gold- and silversmith’s art form part of the M-collection. 

The varied permanent collection is built up around two major groups of objects. One is a unique collection of late-gothic paintings and sculptures. The second consists of 19th-century paintings and sculptures by various Flemish masters including Constantin Meunier, Jef Lambeaux and Georges Minne, to name only the most prominent.

In both periods, the production and collection of art in Leuven had reached a peak. The applied arts and absolute gems of printmaking and drawing are exhibited in the former museum Vander Kelen. The period rooms of the stately old townhouse have been restored to their original glory and take you centuries back in time.

M is also a platform for discovering contemporary art. The combination of present and past is typical for the way M works: the museum offers a unique mix of old and new art. Temporary exhibitions allow a multitude of disciplines, from painting and sculpture to photography, video, film, design and architecture to find their place in the museum. M is an exciting meeting place where there’s always something going on.

M offers a variety of programs that are made to measure – for the young to the not-so-young, for families and individual visitors, for groups and businesses. Discover the museum on your own with our audio guides, or with the concise visitor’s guide. Are you coming with a group? Reserve a guide who speaks your language. Visit M with the kids, or come to one of our evening activities on Thursdays. The temporary exhibitions and the permanent collection never fail to generate a variety of lectures, films, debates...