The Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp will explore how migration shapes people’s relationship with language in a new exhibition opening on 20 November 2026. ‘Between languages: searching for each other‘ brings together historical migrant letters, contemporary artworks and personal stories from the city to examine how people navigate different languages, identities and generations.
Language, identity and belonging
Hundreds of languages are spoken in Antwerp, and many residents move between several every day, at home, at school and at work. Language is more than a means of communication: it is closely tied to identity, memory and belonging. People may cherish their mother tongue while learning a new language to build a future, or act as interpreters for their parents or children. Languages can also fade between generations, creating distance when grandparents and grandchildren can no longer communicate in the same tongue.
The exhibition presents these experiences not as problems to be solved, but as part of a shared human experience. Its themes also resonate with people without a migration background, from differences between generations to the loss of regional dialects.
Historical letters, contemporary art and community projects
The exhibition has three main strands. The first draws on the museum’s collection of letters, audio recordings, dictionaries and pictograms to show that the challenges of language and migration are not new. In a letter sent from the United States in 1927, emigrant Irma Lauwers wrote that language was her greatest difficulty, although she had already learnt a little. A 2003 letter from Anna Voitka’s classmates similarly highlights her efforts to learn Dutch.
The second strand brings together critical and poetic artworks, including video works by Zineb Sedira and Mekhitar Garabedian and an installation by Louai Hashem. Antwerp city poet Esohe Weyden has written a new poem, ‘My mother gave me everything except my mother tongue‘, accompanied by visual work by Dalilla Hermans. Junior city poet Michaël Liekens also contributes to the exhibition.
The third strand presents the results of two years of community projects organised with Kunst in Zicht. The museum worked with people across Antwerp to explore communication across language and generational barriers. Projects include theatre-maker Celia Fechas’s work on intergenerational communication, a new Antwerp ‘pidgin’ language developed by Ahilan Ratnamohan and Enrica Camporesi to express what people struggle to convey in Dutch, and ‘Letters to language‘, written by participants in Dutch as a second language courses with word artist Bumba.
An invitation to take part
The exhibition is designed to encourage visitors to reflect on their own relationship with language rather than offer ready-made answers. A dedicated workshop space will invite visitors to take part, while an accompanying programme includes activities for adults, families and multilingual audiences. Events range from a ‘Sip and paint‘ session with Dalilla Hermans to multilingual picture-book readings, lectures, guided tours and a language council organised by Pidgin Antwerpen.
The Red Star Line Museum recalls that around two million people departed from its historic buildings in search of a better life. They took not only their belongings and hopes for the future, but also their words and languages. The new exhibition connects those migration stories with the experiences of people living in Antwerp today.
‘Between languages: searching for each other’ runs at the Red Star Line Museum from 20 November 2026 to 11 April 2027. Further information and the accompanying programme are available on the museum’s website.
Art and museums in Antwerp
- ANTWERP | ‘Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now’, to 7 March 2027, at M HKA.
- 2027 | Antwerp marks 450 years since the birth of Peter Paul Rubens with year-long programme.
- ANTWERP | KMSKA, ‘Ossip Zadkine and Belgium’, 31 October 2026 to 18 April 2027.
- ANTWERP | KMSKA fine arts museum puts Belgian abstract artist Guy Vandenbranden in the European avant-garde, until 17 January 2027.
- REVIEW | Mercator-Orteliushuis in Antwerp.
- EXHIBITION | ‘Antwerp Unfiltered’ brings 3,000 analogue views of the city to Het Steen, from 27 September 2026 to January 2027.
- ANTWERP | FOMU to open three new exhibitions by Graciela Iturbide, Léonard Pongo and Lola Pertsowsky.
- PHOTOS | Behind The Scenes tour of the Antwerp opera house.
- Medieval Antwerp comes to life with archaeological exhibition at Het Steen.
- Opera Ballet Vlaanderen unveils ‘À la flamande’ 2026–2027 season.
- ANTWERP | ‘Martial Arts’: MAS exhibition explores the rich world of combat sports and martial traditions.
- REVIEW | ‘The Antwerp Six’ exhibition at the Antwerp fashion museum MoMu.
- ANTWERP | M HKA opens new season with exhibition on censorship and artistic resistance.
- ANTWERP | Climb the Cathedral of Our Lady tower.
- ANTWERP | Rubens House appoints two design teams.
- Antwerp’s municipal museums surpass 2 million visitors in 2025.
- ANTWERP | KMSKA schedules ambitious exhibition programme for 2026, featuring international masters such as Antony Gormley, Philip Aguirre y Otegui and Ossip Zadkine.
- Museums of the City of Antwerp look ahead to 2026.
- REVIEW | ‘La ligne de vie’ René Magritte exhibition at Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA).
- 2028 to be Music Year in Antwerp.
- 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 | 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.
