The MDD heads into summer with a new director, a renovated building, the 9th Biennial of Painting and a new vision.

On June 30th, the Museum Dhondt Dhaenens (MDD) will be opening the exhibition Stories from the ground as part of the 9th Biennial of Painting. The exhibition, curated by Martin Germann, coincides with the reopening of the MDD after a second phase of renovation, and also offers a glimpse into the vision of its new director Goedele Bartholomeeusen.
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​Bartholomeeusen took up her position as Commercial Director of the MDD at the beginning of 2022. Following the departure of Artistic Director Antony Hudek in mid-February 2023, she took over as the museum's General Director. Building on collaborations with other institutions, collectors, curators and the public, Bartholomeeusen aims to shape MMD’s museum future’s mission.

"The MDD has always been a place where artists, collectors and curious people can interact with art in a lush natural setting. As a meeting place for everyone and a home for artists and their ideas, we aim to connect a wide audience with the art from the 20th and 21st centuries."
​— Goedele Bartholomeeusen

The next chapter of the plan will focus more on in situ exhibition projects combined with an engaging program of activities for a wide audience and will be extended to two external sites such as Woning Van Wassenhove of Juliaan Lampens and the Wunderkammer of Hans Op de Beeck.

The modernist architecture of the museum building and the unique natural setting within a central city are assets that enrich all aspects of the museum's strategy and mission.

The museum’s exhibition will pay attention to the site itself and use it to create a specific, responsive program that focuses on a slow, layered experience of art.

Biennial of Painting

For the ninth time, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Roger Raveel Museum and the Museum of Deinze and the Leie Region present together the Biennial of Painting. Across three exhibitions, the Biennial combines the historical collections of the three museums with works by contemporary artists to examine the art of painting over the last hundred years from a contemporary perspective.

For the occasion, MDD presents the collective exhibition Stories from the ground  in which the curator Martin Germann has brought together around twenty artists whose practice manifests in multiple ways: in literal material terms, such as the earth and the ground on which we lie, sit, stand and walk; but also in many ways in which artists approach painting, as an ancient foundational institution that provides a base and support while constantly challenging existing ideas about art and mastery. 

Starting from MDD’s collection, this Biennial exhibition explores some unconventional artistic practices. In this context, painting consistently plays a distinctive yet ever-changing role: as a dim, long-abandoned path, a tool for opening new perspectives, a tradition to be dismantled, or as an open language to tell stories.

Biennial of Painting
​Stories from the Ground
​30.06.24—06.10.24
​Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens
​Museumlaan 14
​9831 Deurle

Curator: Martin Germann

The artists: Ellen Altfest, Kasper Bosmans, Vija Celmins, Edith Dekyndt, Laurent Dupont, Isa Genzken, Gabriel Hartley, Derek Jarman, Behrang Karimi, Stanislava Kovalcikova, Bracha Lichtenberg-Ettinger, Jannis Marwitz, Delcy Morelos, Dala Nasser, Loïc Raguenes, Lin May Saeed, Selma Selman, Vivian Suter, Kazuna Taguchi 

MDD’s Collection and Andries-Vanlouwe Foundation Collection: Lili Dujourie, Isa Genzken, Bernd Lohaus, Constant Permeke, Gerhard Richter, Niele Toroni, Mitja Tušek, et al.

Selection of images Stories from the Ground

A new vision

Directed by Goedele Bartholomeeusen, the MDD aims to develop the historical legacy of the 20th-century Flemish avant-garde, which is deeply rooted in the venue’s DNA. The MDD is dedicated to studying and exhibiting artworks ​ from 1900 to the present day, an era marked by significant cultural, social and political changes on a global scale.

Artistic responses to these changes have shaped various contemporary artistic practices. The MDD highlights the interconnected and richly varied histories and experiences that fuel the art of this period.

To disseminate the artistic program as widely as possible, the MDD seeks collaborations both inside and outside the museum and develops a variety of other activities in the areas of collections care and conservation, archival processing, digital access, study and research, and public engagement.

The MDD recognizes that we live in a time when the concept of a museum and its identity are being actively challenged by social and economic developments, as well as by the language of art itself. It is precisely for this reason that flexible, progressive institutions like the MDD have become even more crucial in offering alternative models for change.

Collection of Andries-Vanlouwe Fondation 

For over three decades, Jan Andries (1933-2015) and Lieve Vanlouwe (1936-2021) played an essential role in the operation and organization of the Dhondt-Dhaenens Museum. Their passionate commitment not only influenced the museum's history as directors, but also as major sponsors of numerous exhibitions and artistic projects. 

In January 2023, a loan agreement was signed between the Foundation and the MDD for a selection of works from the collection. This selection includes works by artists such as Pierre Alechinsky, Bram Bogart, Michael Borremans, Lawrence Carroll, Lynn Chadwick, Lucio Fontana, Isa Genzken, Hans Hartung, Zhang Huan, Imi Knoebel, Eugene Leroy, René Magritte, Robert Mangold, Tatsuo Miyajima, Nic Nicosia, Panamarenko, Serge Poliakoff, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Michel Seuphor, Leon Spilliaert, Thomas Struth, Mitja Tušek, Luc Tuymans, Koen van den Broek, Jan Van Imschoot, Jef Verheyen and Marthe Wéry. The MDD is responsible for the unlocking and preservation of these works. ​ 

In addition to an autumn exhibition featuring a selection from the collection, several works have already been included in the Painting Biennial selection.

Renovation MDD

The ninth edition of the Biennial coincides with the reopening of the Dhondt-Dhaenens Museum after a second phase of renovation focused on technical facilities and exhibition spaces. A new annex will extend the available exhibition space within the museum's existing space.

The ultimate goal is to transform the 50-year-old museum into a sustainable building that meets all contemporary requirements. In doing so, the MDD aims to preserve its heritage and program for the future, paying particular attention to its location in the Deurle museum district.

This work is being carried out in collaboration with the architectural firm SVR-ARCHITECTS. The current renovation work will proceed in two phases. Initially, technical work will be primarily conducted to make the building more sustainable (such as new lighting, ventilation/heating/cooling systems, new exterior joinery, new windows in the courtyard, and a new acoustic ceiling).

The second phase will be completed in autumn 2024, when a new exhibition space of approximately 90 m2 will be opened. This renovated annex will be officially inaugurated with the exhibition Eloquent Formalism, organized by curator Nicolaus Schafhausen, where a wide selection of works from the Andries-Vanlouwe Foundation collection will be exhibited together for the first time to the general public.

Selection of images of MDD and the renovation