Since September 2016, Antwerp Management School has been busy rebuilding the former CPA buildings on the Mechelseplein. The right-hand section, at Lange-Gasthuisstraat, is being kept in its original form. The left-hand section is being newly built and the architecture will echo the rhythm of the adjacent historic building. The new building will reflect AMS’s open-house philosophy.

In consultation with Antwerp’s alderman for culture, Caroline Bastiaens, there is an agreement on the wall poem “A minimum,” by Antwerp’s former City Poet, Ramsey Nasr, which has graced a wall of De Boogkeers since 2005. The poet and the graphic designer, Gert Dooreman, have agreed to a new design, in which readability and proportionality are the key factors, and the city poem will live on in four blinded windows.

Ramsey Nasr will recite the poem at the start of the Mechelseplein festivities

Alderman Bastiaens and AMS Managing Director Geert Vyncke will announce this news to the public on Friday, Aug. 25 at 4 p.m., at the official opening of the Mechelseplein festivities. Ramsey Nasr will recite “A minimum” and several other poems in honor of the occasion.

Illustration: facade design of the De Boogkeers building with Ramsey Nasr’s wall poem.

Art by street artist Larsen Bervoets will temporarily decorate the new buildings

A new, plain white building is undoubtedly tempting to graffiti artists. Rather than waiting for anything illegal or undesirable to happen, we have employed an Antwerp street artist in consultation with the city council. The empty window panels, which will protect the building until the windows are installed, will be enlivened by Larsen Bervoets*.

And so Antwerp Management School’s new home and the beautiful facade facing the Mechelseplein will be a wonderful canvas for art in many forms.

Practical

Friday, Aug. 25^, 4 p.m., Mechelseplein – official opening of the Mechelseplein festivities with the announcement of the city poem’s new lease on life.

Press contact

Geert Vyncke, Managing Director Antwerp Management School, geert.vyncke@ams.ac.be
M.+32 478 48 44 46

Anja Tys, Corporate Marketing Communication Manager, anja.tys@ams.ac.be
T+32 3 265 47 33 of M+32 486 494 387

About Antwerp Management School

For more than 50 years, Antwerp Management School has given a powerful boost to economic and social activities in Belgium and far beyond, with high-quality management courses and research. Reflecting the stature of its courses, AMS has AACSB and NVAO accreditation and is included in the Financial Times business school rankings.

About Larsen Bervoets

Larsen Bervoets (born 1979) went to art school in Antwerp as a teenager and later studied three-dimensional design in Ghent. In 2005, he was selected for a group exhibition, “Coming People,” at Ghent’s S.M.A.K. (Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art) with his graduation project. Afterward, he spent several months in China with an international project. Beside murals, Larsen draws a lot, working mostly in ink or chalk. He prefers to work with materials that are lying around, pulling them out of their context and incorporating them in a grouping.

Other recent projects: various murals in Antwerp; Gazet van Antwerpen (Hans van Temsche lawsuit/ illustrated report); Live Nation: design and execution of the mural “The Wall” Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)/Werchter; Brouwerij Moortgat – style integrations for Vedett, De Koninck, Duvel; Minds Meet production house – storyboard for “Stage IV,” a short film by Tony Schollaert (to be released October 2017); illustrations and paintings for “Chaussée d’Amour” (Telenet series).