In 1993, Antwerp was Cultural Capital of Europe. This status was a catalyst for many events such as exhibitions and performances, but also gave Antwerp a boost. 2028 will be dedicated to music, new Alderwoman for Culture Lien Van de Kelder (Vooruit) says. 

“Isn’t it high time that there was another kind of Antwerp cultural capital, like in 1993?”, Gazet van Antwerpen asks the alderman. 

“Antwerp ’93 was a great cultural year. I played an orphan girl in the musical ‘Annie‘”, Van de Kelder replies.

“Many seeds were planted that year that we can still enjoy today. I hope to be able to create something like that in 2028. That will be the Wannes Van de Velde year. We will then organize all kinds of things around this Antwerp musician. The entire city must be dedicated to music. At the moment I can’t say how we are going to do this, but we are going to go very broad. From the cafés to people who come out on the street with their musical instruments. The city will be buzzing.”

Who was Wannes Van de Velde?

Wannes Van de Velde (29 April 1937 – 10 November 2008), born Willy Cecile Johannes Van de Velde in Antwerp, was a Flemish folk singer, guitarist, musician, poet, puppeteer, and artist. He is best known for his songs ‘Ik Wil deze Nacht in de Straten Verdwalen‘ (1973), ‘Mijn Mansarde‘, and ‘De Brug van Willebroek‘ (1990). 

His work is often classified as kleinkunst (small art), and he was notable for performing in his local dialect.

Van de Velde’s father, Jaak Van de Velde, was a metalworker and a gifted singer, while his mother was a housewife and also a singer. He grew up in the Zirkstraat, close to Antwerp’s Red Light District, where he was constantly surrounded by music at home.

The song ‘Ik Wil deze Nacht in de Straten Verdwalen’ was composed for the film ‘Home Sweet Home‘ by Benoît Lamy. In 1997, he was awarded the Arkprijs van het Vrije Woord (Award for the Free Word)

Van de Velde passed away in Antwerp on 10 November 2008, at the age of 71.

Art and museums in Antwerp

• ANTWERP | MAS celebrates the universal language of dance with ‘Universal Tongue’, from 25 October 2025 to 4 January 2026.
• ANTWERP | Flemish government cancels €130 million new museum building for M HKA in Antwerp.
• MOMU | ‘GIRLS. On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between’, 27 September 2025 to 1 February 2026.
• ANTWERP | Museum Plantin-Moretus highlights 300 years of women’s stories in ‘Women’s Business / Business Women’.
• Antwerp fashion museum MoMu will mark 40 years of The Antwerp Six with exhibition.
• ANTWERP | Museum Mayer van den Bergh opens exhibition ‘Public Favourites’, from Mad Meg to Delft Blue, look at art through other people’s eyes.
• ANTWERP | Museum Night 2025 on Saturday 2 August.
• ANTWERP | Middelheim Museum celebrates 75 years with a summer full of new ways to experience the art park.
• M HKA 2025 |​ Bruno Zhu – Panamarenko – ‘The Situation is Fluid’ – Today’s Place – Hugo Roelandt.
• ANTWERP | ‘These Branching Moments’ – ‘.tiff 2025′ – ”OM/MOTHER’: 3 new exhibitions at FOMU, from 28 June 2025.
• ANTWERP | ‘Panamarenko. Infinite Imagination’ exhibition until 4 May 2025 at KMSKA.
• ANTWERP | ‘Compassion’ in the MAS: the many faces of compassion.
• 2025 at the museums of Antwerp.
• 2025 at Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Antwerp (KMSKA): René Magritte, Marthe Donas, Panamarenko, Hans Op de Beeck.
• ANTWERP | Graphics Museum De Reede ft. Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops and Albrecht Dürer.
• ANTWERP | Rubens Experience and Rubens Garden at Rubenshuis.
• ANTWERP | Innovations in the Middelheim Museum provide a completely new visitor experience.
• A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Discovering queer(ed) art with the Queer Tour at the KMSKA fine arts museum.
• REVIEW | Illusion Antwerpen, an active and photogenic museum.
• Antwerp museums and sports facilities team up with European Disability Card for accessible leisure activities.
• Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
• ANTWERP | Inside Rubens House.
• Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Museum Vleeshuis up for restoration.
• BOOK | ‘Antwerp. An Archaeological View on the Origin of the City’ by Tim Bellens.
• Red Star Line Museum.
• Paleis op de Meir. 
• DIVA, Antwerp Home of Diamonds.
• ANTWERP | Red Star Line Museum of (e)migration.