Mu.ZEE – Art Museum by the Sea

Mu.ZEE is Ostend’s art museum, and its subject is Belgian art from 1880 to the present day: Ensor, Spilliaert, Permeke and the generations that followed them. Its own building on the Romestraat closed for renovation in January 2025 and is not expected to reopen before spring 2028.

In the meantime the museum has moved somewhere arguably more beautiful. Since June 2025 it has been showing its exhibitions in the Venetian Galleries, the arcaded seafront pavilions Leopold II had built in the early 1900s at the western end of the promenade. You go from the beach to the paintings in a couple of minutes, and the light off the sea is part of the experience.

Until 3 January 2027 the galleries hold two shows: Statuettes, about a hundred small sculptures made for the home, and a focus on Wim Delvoye. The temporary venue is smaller than the old museum, so an hour to ninety minutes is enough. Children aged 12 and under go in free, which makes it an easy cultural stop on a beach day.