CollectionsLAB

The collections management team demonstrates how objects from the museum’s collection are restored and preserved. Collection management is an ongoing process of care, vision and accessibility, with the aim of passing on the collection to future generations in good condition and well documented. Discover the techniques and materials needed to preserve heritage. Conservators demonstrate how science and craftsmanship come together, with respect for the original material and the story behind each object. The team works in this space at certain times throughout the week. Are the doors open? Come in, ask questions and discover the scientific work behind the museum.

During the summer of 2026, the CollectionsLAB team will be restoring five monumental paintings by Adolphe Crespin and Edouard Duyck, dating from 1897. The restoration is preparing the works for their loan to the ‘Bruxelles 1900’ exhibition at the Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (10 November 2026 – 25 April 2027).

For the Collections Management team, these paintings serve as a starting point for exploring four themes:

• how these decorative canvases were created around 1897;
• what images of Central Africa they depict;
• how museums today document, pack and transport such works for an international loan;
• and how we can reinterpret and re-examine these images today.