Where can you find the best art galleries in Antwerp?
Het Zuid is a district in the south of Antwerp where you’ll find the city’s best contemporary art galleries, as well as some excellent art museums.
The area which now has a special appeal for art lovers, has gone through changes in recent years.
These days it’s a trendy part of the city with cool cafes and a lovely park.
In this article, I made a self-guided walk that will take you around the art galleries of Het Zuid on a route that I took myself.
There are more contemporary art galleries in Antwerp in other parts of the city of course, but I think if you want to spend about half a day exploring great art, you can do that very easily by following this route.
Antwerp is a flat and walkable city and walking distances between the galleries in this guide are short, making it ideal for a walk around Antwerp’s contemporary art hub.
If you need a break, there are plenty of places to eat and drink along the way, and also a lovely park.
Get an offline map of this tour: This article is now featured on GPSmyCity. To download this article for offline reading or create a self-guided walking tour to visit the attractions highlighted in this article, go to Walking Tours and Articles in Antwerp.
Table of contents
Galleries in Antwerp: Het Zuid self-guided walk
The tour starts with the Tim Van Laere Gallery. It’s a large space with two rooms featuring contemporary art by both emerging and established artists.
Next is the Everyday Gallery. I liked the interior, it’s semi-industrial with large windows and a lot of daylight. This gallery represents emerging and mid-career artists.
PLUS-ONE Gallery and Gallery Sofie Van de Velde share the same spacious and brightly lit location in the New South and another location that we’ll see later in this tour.
They feature diverse exhibitions by Belgian and international contemporary talent and each of them represents different artists.
Between the two rooms, you’ll find an art bookshop.
Right across the street from the last two galleries, there’s a smaller gallery called Molo Gallery. Recently opened, Mono is a contemporary art space for international artists.
Less than 5 minutes away, PLUS-ONE Gallery and Sofie Van de Velde share another location next door to each other.
Cross the road and enter the lovely park (Zuidpark on Vlaamsekaai) and you’ll see the galleries on your right.
On the other side of the park, you can visit Antwerp’s excellent photography museum (FOMU). There’s a lot to see in this museum, so take your time. It has three floors, some thought-provoking contemporary photography, historical photos, a great library, and a nice shop.
Back on the other side of the park, walk into some side streets to discover more small galleries.
My favourite spot on this Antwerp gallery tour was VCRB Gallery. I liked both the layout of the space and the curation.
The space actually houses two galleries: VCRB on the ground floor and The Platform right above it.
VCRB has been running for over 20 years, featuring contemporary, figurative art.
The Platform in the room on the first floor is a newer gallery started by the daughter of the couple who established VCRB. It showcases mostly emerging talents.
At this point in the tour, you can visit two large museums.
Each of them requires quite a bit of time to visit, so take that into account when you plan your schedule.
You can complete the gallery tour and see the museums on another day. As much as I love art, you want to avoid brain saturation 😉
Across the park, you’ll see the contemporary art museum, M HKA. The modernist building is unique and quite striking.
Inside you’ll find contemporary art from the Antwerp city collection, special themed exhibitions on the upper floors, and a great pop-up space on the 5th floor.
I spent quite a bit of time in this museum and actually went twice in one month as they changed the pop-up exhibition.
The other museum you can visit is on Museum Street. It’s KMSKA – Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, a large building with an impressive facade that is hard to miss.
I loved this museum and spent a lot of time there. The exhibitions vary and span many time periods and artistic styles, from old religious paintings to modern and contemporary art.
The clever use of space in this museum is the best I’ve seen in any Belgian museum so far.
To continue the gallery walk, after the museums, head back to Vlaamsekaai and enter the next side street.
Micheline Szwajcer Gallery is a small exhibition space. When I visited it had an abstract art show on.
The next gallery is about 5 minutes away. Behind a black, heavy door is one of the most beautiful gallery spaces I’ve seen. Newchild Gallery features mainly conceptual artists, both established and emerging.
This is where the gallery tour ends. At this point, you’ll be quite close to one of my favourite streets in Antwerp: Klooster street. It’s the best design hub in Antwerp. If you want to enjoy some design shops after seeing all that contemporary art, take a walk along this street.
Find out more about galleries in Antwerp
Here are some other resources to help you explore the art scene and more galleries in Antwerp:
Antwerp Art is a non-profit promoting art and artists in Antwerp. Its website is a great resource, especially about art events and exhibitions in Antwerp.
Art Antwerp is a contemporary art fair. On its website, you can find out more about participating galleries, talks and events, and how to visit.
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