Kanal–Centre Pompidou
Brussels
Wednesday to Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm
Late-night opening on Fridays, until 10 pm
Opening on 28 November 2026
Sainctelette Square 21
1000 Brussels
The result of a unique partnership launched with Centre Pompidou in 2017, Kanal–Centre Pompidou is set to open its doors on 28 November 2026! This new museum of modern and contemporary art, which is also dedicated to architecture and landscape, as well as the performing arts, is situated within the former Citroën car factory, built in 1933-34, in the heart of the European capital, Brussels. Until 2031, works from Centre Pompidou will be regularly exhibited there, in dialogue with Kanal’s collection and exhibition programme.
© droits réservés. Photo : Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Service de la documentation photographique du MNAM/Dist. GrandPalaisRm
Coming soon
A truly immense journey
28 November 2026 – 10 January 2028
An exploration of the forces and constant change that propel people, ideas and artistic practices from the early 1900s to the present. More than 350 major works, predominantly from Centre Pompidou and Kanal collections, but also from other Belgian public and private collections invite visitors to drift between places, cultures and artistic movements, encountering modern art icons alongside contemporary international and Brussels-based artists.
This major exhibition is taking place alongside around ten other exhibitions to mark the opening of this new venue dedicated to art, architecture and the performing arts, as well as the first chapter of a programme co-designed by the Centre Pompidou and Kanal over the next five years.
In 2017, the Brussels-Capital Region and the Kanal Foundation, in partnership with Centre Pompidou, launched the transformation of the iconic Citroën garage – built in the 1930s on the banks of the Brussels–Charleroi Canal – into a major multidisciplinary cultural centre. This modernist complex, whose showroom soars to a height of twenty-one metres, was refurbished by Atelier Kanal, a collaboration between the architectural practices noAarchitecten, EM2N and Sergison Bates architects.
Kanal is a museum of modern and contemporary art, architecture and landscape that showcases both established and emerging artists through a unique exhibition programme, as well as a rich collection comprising contemporary works and artists’ editions with a connection to Brussels or Belgium, and archives on architectural, urban planning and landscape architecture in Brussels and Belgium.
The strategic partnership forged with Centre Pompidou provides Kanal with long-term access to one of the world’s most prestigious collections of modern and contemporary art. Until 2031, its programme will include exhibitions co-curated by the two institutions in the spirit of dialogue.
At the same time, Kanal Architecture aims to stimulate reflection and debate on how architecture, landscape and urban ecosystems shape society through a resolutely cross-disciplinary cultural programme.
More than just a museum, Kanal is an extension of the city, where different art forms come together. Featuring spaces for performances, dance, music and film, it also offers freely accessible areas for reading, learning, discussing and creating: a library and archives, auditoriums, as well as its own printing press – not to mention a brasserie, a restaurant, a bakery and a bar on its roof terrace.
Kanal is a museum in development, in flux and in the making, never finished, which aims to engage in dialogue with all audiences, both local and international. A welcoming space where everyone can come together to celebrate art.
