About a hundred sculptures come to life in the museum’s atrium
The sculpture collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Tournai is a valuable subject of study. Yet most museums exhibit only a portion of their collections, constrained by considerations related to space, conservation, curatorial coherence, or the museum’s narrative.
Their fundamental task of conservation, however, is based on a reverse logic: treating every piece, whether on display or not, with the same care, in an egalitarian approach aimed at preserving the integrity and diversity of the heritage entrusted to the institution.
The museum has a space specifically dedicated to sculpture and has chosen to present its entire collection of sculpted figures there, without distinguishing between the pieces. This choice takes on its full significance now that the museum teams are engaged in the necessary work of inventorying, documenting, and reevaluating these works, which have often remained in the shadows. By displaying everything here, the museum makes visible what is preserved elsewhere but remains unseen.
These figures thus form, at the heart of the Sculpture Atrium, a motley collection of anonymous individuals, heroes, or celebrities, deliberately placed together to blend into a sort of “non-exhibition” in which the curators have chosen to set aside the value judgments of art history.
Neither the color of the stones or metals, nor their origin, nor the period, nor the artists have determined this arrangement—without a pedestal or plinth—in a space designed to house three-dimensional works.
The exhibition runs from December 7, 2025, to September 13, 2026, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.