The Organisation of MCA
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The Non-Profit Organisation Monumental Churches of Antwerp (MCA) was founded in 2005 as a contact point and means of collaboration between the of five churches situated in the historical centre of Antwerp.

  • The General Assembly consists of 15 members, which are the chairmen of the "kerkfabriek" (church administration) of each participating church, the parish priest and those responsible for the public of each church.
  • The Board of Directors consists of five members chosen by the General Assembly.
  • The daily administration is in the hand of a manager.

The foundation of the association was a new decisive step in the cooperation that had grown between the churches over the last years with the support of the Cultural Heritage of Cell Antwerp.

 

On the initiative of City Counsellor Philip Heylen a task force was put together in 2005 consisting of the top executives of the museums, the Cultural Heritage Cell of Antwerp and of the Department of Culture and the Office Cultural heritage of the Province of Antwerp - together with the administrative body of MCA. Serious and productive discussions of the task force has led to a satisfactory cooperation between the three partners. The first results of this cooperation have been:

 

  • The appointment of a coordinator - a first in Flanders - and 
  • The production of a folder in four languages

The Monumental Churches can also offer useful in this cooperation to the City and Province. There are the impressive church buildings, all five nearly completely restored and within walking distance of each other. There is an extraordinary heritage of art, strongly influenced by the 17th century with the generation of Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, and complementary to the rich museums in this city (the Rubens' House, the Museum Plantin-Moretus, the Rockox' House, the Museum of Fine Arts). Year in, year out there are around 500'000 local and foreign visitors, which is an exceptional number according to Flemish standards for historic and cultural sites.

 

But these five churches are and remain primarily places of worship and prayer, and not museums. This is their main purpose and this purpose should be totally respected.

 

 





(c) 2007 MKA | vzw Monumentale Kerken Antwerpen
Groenplaats 21
2000 Antwerpen
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