What Cannot Be Held: Contemporary voices of Belgian art

A fresh look at a rich collection

De Brakke Grond and Mu.ZEE will cooperate over the next three years to exhibit Flemish artists in the Netherlands. While Mu.ZEE in Ostend temporarily closes for renovation, the museum will remain active through collaborations in Belgium and beyond. During this period, each year de Brakke Grond and Mu.ZEE will invite a Dutch curator to curate an exhibition of contemporary work from the Mu.ZEE collection. The exhibitions will be presented in de Brakke Grond.

Director of Museum Cobra Suzanne Wallinga has been asked to curate the first exhibition, from 17 May thru 6 July 2025. Together with Ilse Roosens of Mu.ZEE and Sophie Dogterom of de Brakke Grond, she will compile the exhibition What Cannot Be Held. A group exhibition on humanity’s vulnerable position within a constantly changing world.

What Cannot Be Held brings together artists who reflect, each in their own way, on themes including the instability of social relationships, the fragility of identity and the tension between past, present and the imagination. The exhibition investigates how shifting social structures and crumbling certainties influence our perception of being human.

A striking aspect of this is how various generations of artists approach this theme. Where older artists explore the spaces between formal and universal issues, younger makers focus more on the personal: such as family histories and memories. The works invite the visitor to consider vulnerability, radical empathy, and the balance between interconnectedness and loss. They also explore liminal spaces: between dream and reality; culture and nature; the visible and the intangible. This layered approach makes the exhibition an inspirational, topical reflection of the human condition.