Sound the Alarm: Yves Goldstein (Kanal – Centre Pompidou)

Yves Goldstein is the director of Kanal – Centre Pompidou: 'The forced delay was seen as an opportunity.'

For Kanal – Centre Pompidou, the first consequence of the health crisis was the postponement of the John M. Armleder exhibition, the last one before the centre closed for works to be carried out from 2 April to 24 September. Director Yves Goldstein reckons that that was not a bad thing. “The forced delay was seen by the Swiss artist and the teams at the art centre as an opportunity to fine-tune this ambitious exhibition, which explores themes around our relationships with others and with the world.”

Contrary to what was originally planned, the exhibition will take a break from December to February. During that time, different actors and artists, as well as organisations within society, will reflect on what a museum should be in the twenty-first century and on its relationship with the world and with the city around it.

This period of reflection is totally in keeping with Kanal’s original project, which is developing step by step. John M. Armleder was given carte blanche for seven months as an experiment exploring the DNA of what Kanal will become. The museum is not treated like something that is dreamt up by an artistic elite who are cut off from the rest of the city. “The role of the institution is not to be an archive for artworks, but rather to transmit and to create projects with its environment that are rooted in the reality of Brussels.”

Moreover, the absence of visitors from other countries has further strengthened the desire to speak primarily to the highly diverse population of Brussels, which already made up 60% of the visitors to the “Kanal Brut” exhibition.