What role can a museum and its artistic programme play in society?
Photo: Josefien Tondeleir for M Leuven
What role can a museum and its artistic programme play in society?
“Making a difference in society: that’s what we’re all about”
What role can a museum and its artistic programme play in society? M addresses this question in its new partnership and management agreement with the City of Leuven. ‘By being part of the city’s network, we want to do our bit towards creating a sustainable and inclusive city.’
Photo: Josefien Tondeleir for M Leuven
The new agreement runs from now until 2031. How does it differ from the previous one?
Peter Bary: ‘This is the fourth management agreement since M opened in 2009. To use a metaphor: we have grown up over the past few years and are now in a sort of adolescence. The first agreement focused on the museum’s establishment, whilst the second centred mainly on its consolidation. Today, we are ready for a much more comprehensive partnership agreement centred on a framework of values that we share with the city’s broader policy. And, of course, we are looking ahead to 2030, when Leuven will become European Capital of Culture. Naturally, we are aiming for an excellent and strong international exhibition programme, but we have deliberately sought a broader definition of what “impact” can mean. Visitor numbers are important, but you need to consider other criteria for determining whether you are on the right track.’
Photo: Josefie Tondeleir for M Leuven
To develop this new framework, you spoke to a whole host of organisations and local partners. How did that work?
Lore Boon: ‘M is subsidised not only by the City of Leuven but also by Flanders, as a museum operating at national level within the heritage and arts sector. We therefore support living artists whilst also preserving the past. We saw this new agreement as an opportunity to bring all these functions closer together. In very concrete terms, we looked at what we could contribute to each impact theme in collaboration with various partners. For example, on the theme of inclusion, we organised a think tank day with a wide range of partners, such as the city’s diversity department, neighbourhood organisations and cultural organisations such as the library and PARCUM Museum. Together, we determined which objectives we could set, how we could collaborate more systematically and whether our actions were indeed the right ones.’
Sigrid Bosmans: ‘We can certainly come up with all sorts of ideas around these themes, but some of our city partners are better at this than we are. By combining our skills and strengths with those of partner organisations, we have refined our objectives. Furthermore, the aim is to meet regularly to make any necessary adjustments. Rather than simply ticking boxes, we want to learn how we can bring about the intended changes.’
Do you have any examples of projects that generate that sort of change?
Peter Bary: ‘The first thing that springs to mind is our project with the Mater Dei primary school in Leuven, where M has come to serve as an additional learning environment. Children from the newcomer community were introduced to artistic methods that are not necessarily language-driven. This has had a positive impact on their well-being. The new management agreement aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of such valuable projects and to enable other organisations to develop similar initiatives.’
Sigrid Bosmans: ‘Another example is our arts education projects for families in the M garden, or the expertise we have gained from working with artists, which we will be sharing with COBRA, the inter-municipal partnership for culture in East Brabant.’
The new agreement with the city explicitly refers to a partnership between M and city policymakers. Will enough scope for autonomy still exist?
Sigrid Bosmans: ‘Of course, that creates a certain tension within which we operate: you don’t want to be instrumentalised. But we’ve worked together on the basis of a great deal of trust.’
Bert Cornillie: ‘In Leuven, we have a strong culture of collaboration and consultation, and that has been demonstrated once again. I think it’s wonderful to see that a major institution like M wants to play a part in the city. For our part, we believe it is only natural that the organisation should do so in its own way; for us as a city, artistic autonomy is not up for debate.’
