On 8 November 1957, under the impetus of Karel Geirlandt, the “Association for the Museum of Contemporary Art” was founded, with the ambitious goal of creating an autonomous museum focused on contemporary trends in the art world. The Ghent Museum of Contemporary Art was established in 1975. At the time, it was the first Belgian museum dedicated to contemporary art and was housed in several rooms of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Jan Hoet was appointed director of this new museum. Under his leadership, the collection grew systematically and the museum gained international renown. Due to limited space, the collection was only displayed in temporary exhibitions in constantly changing and fragmentary arrangements.
In 1999, the museum finally acquired its own building, a conversion of the “Casino” opposite the Museum of Fine Arts, and was given a new name: S.M.A.K. or Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art). Both museums now form a museum island in the Citadel Park on the city ring road of Ghent.
In 2005, artistic director Jan Hoet was succeeded by Philippe Van Cauteren. Under his leadership, the exhibition programme focused mainly on important monographic exhibitions by leading artists.
