From October 3, 2026, to January 17, 2027, the KMSKA, Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, is honoring the Belgian sculptor Philip Aguirre y Otegui. Born in 1961, the artist considers the pursuit of beauty as vital a necessity as water and bread, and brings the world as it is into the museum.

“Art will not save the world, but it can move a human being, make them think, or simply make them happy.” Perhaps everything about Philip Aguirre y Otegui can be summed up in this modest yet unwavering statement. The son of a Basque refugee in Belgium during the Civil War, this Antwerp native has been sculpting exile, migration, and water—this resource that is either shared or confiscated—for forty years.

The KMSKA is dedicating its largest retrospective to him, featuring over a hundred sculptures, drawings, and prints, from the 1980s to previously unseen works from his studio and recent pieces shown this year at the Venice Biennale. In his hands, the Arc de Triomphe becomes fragile poetry, and the caryatid bends under the weight of a wounded man. Following in the footsteps of Pieter Bruegel, Francisco de Goya, and Ossip Zadkine, he addresses inequality and conflict without ever raising a placard. Plaster, bronze, wood, and terracotta are juxtaposed with reclaimed oil drums.

Outside the museum walls, at Brussels Airport, his Matrasdrager carries a mattress on its head, while in Douala, Cameroon, his Théâtre Source has transformed a muddy well into a fountain and a meeting place. Reopened in 2022 after eleven years of construction, the museum has become a refuge for troubled times, where the world is never far away.

Find our other Belgian getaways in our Belgium section.

KMSKA, ROYAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ANTWERP
From October 3, 2026 to January 17, 2027
Leopold de Waelplaats 1, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Mon. to Fri. 10am-5pm, Sat., Sun. and public holidays 10am-6pm, late opening on Thu. until 10pm (except during Christmas holidays)
Admission: €20 - Concessions: €10 - Free for under 18s