History

The "125 Jaar Fotografie" [125 years of photography] exhibition in Provinciaal Museum voor Kunstambachten Sterckshof [Sterckshof Provincial Museum of the Decorative Arts] in Deurne led to the construction of a new Foto & Film [Photo and Film] department within this museum in 1965. Ir. Karel Sano, Head of Department at Gevaert Photo-producten N.V. in Mortsel initially wanted to set up a photographic museum at the company headquarters with some of his colleagues, to display historic apparatus together with the pictures taken with it, following the model of the Agfa-Photo-Historama in Leverkusen (which has since been transferred to the Ludwig Museum in Keulen). But when it became clear that there was little interest for the project within the company, he submitted his plans to Piet Baudouin, who was then a curator at the Museum Sterckshof. This resulted in the "125 Jaar Fotografie" exhibition referred to above, which was organised with the support of the newly merged company of Agfa-Gevaert. Following the success of this exhibition, which was also shown at the Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs [Museum of Decorative Arts], the loans from Agva-Gevaert together with the archive of the company's publications department, which had by now closed down, were transferred to the Province of Antwerp for the express purpose of forming a nucleus for the construction of a permanent museum department devoted to the history of photography. The management and further expansion of this department was initially entrusted to a "werkcomité Foto & Film" [Photo and Film Works Committee] formed by a group of staff under the leadership of Engineer Karel Sano, who was later followed by Dr Laurent Roosens. From 1973, the tasks of the Working Committee were gradually transferred to scientific staff associated with Museum Sterckshof. Under the leadership of historian Roger Coenen, the collections and the extensive library of the Foto & Film department outgrew the available space at Sterckshof. At the end of 1980, the department and its administration and storage space moved to temporary accommodation in an office building in Karel Oomsstraat in Antwerp. The name of Museum voor Fotografie [Museum of Photograph] was given to it at this time. In 1986, the new museum found a permanent home in the now renovated "Pakhuis Vlaanderen" [Flanders Warehouse] located on the Waalse Kaai in Antwerpen, in walking distance of Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten [Royal Museum of Fine Arts] and the Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst [Museum of Modern Art], which was also being set up at this time. From 1973 to 1992, the museums of the Province of Antwerp were managed centrally from Museum Sterckshof. In 1992, there was a reorganisation, in which each of the four museums was reoriented around a single subject, i.e. silver, diamonds, textiles and photography. Each museum was therefore conceptually linked to a particular trade or artistic discipline that had played a leading role in the Antwerp region. Each provincial museum was given its own management, with its own staff and budget. The purchase of an adjoining building in Lakenstraat in 1994 was an opportunity to add a modest extension to the then Museum voor Fotografie, with additional exhibition space and a better-equipped auditorium. Further expansion, requiring the participation of other partners was made possible by the purchase of further adjacent plots in Lakenstraat and Verviersstraat in subsequent years. Architect Georges Baines was commissioned to give spatial form to this project by building a new wing and partial renovation of the existing building. The renovated FotoMuseum Provincie Antwerpen [Photographic Museum of the Province of Antwerp] under the leadership of Christoph Ruys opened its doors in 2004.