Over a century of institution archives
The MSK archives are kept in the MSK building and in the Black Box. The institutional archive contains administrative, financial, technical and personnel files. It shows the MSK as a city service and mainly focuses on the period after the founding of the current building.
Very important are the reports of the monitoring committee (1903-2007), which included local politicians, artists and experts. Together with the curator, they determined the direction of the museum for over a century. The committee reports also indirectly sketch a picture of artistic and cultural thinking in Ghent.
All operations documented
In addition, the archive contains a wealth of information on museum operations. The many archive boxes, which include correspondence, reports, design plans, samples, technical descriptions etc., give a picture of how selection, exhibition and communication have taken place over the last hundred years. The archive holds copies of all printed matter, promotional material, posters, etc. produced over the years.
Important sub-archives also highlight donations, legacies, purchases and purchase proposals. All works that were once loaned for an exhibition or placed on deposit in government buildings also have their own file.
