Brussels-based artist and filmmaker Ingel Vaikla was asked to create a new film capturing Kanal at the pivotal moment of its opening. As the former Citroën garage becomes a public space for Brussels, the film records the final preparations, the first encounters with visitors and the building’s early life as a museum.
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The building takes centre stage – not as a static object but as a living presence formed by movement and human activity. Tracking visitors, performers and staff members, and following the movements of the camera itself, Vaikla explores how architecture is activated by those who use and inhabit it. The film traces a dialogue between the building’s industrial past and its new cultural role, capturing a unique moment of transition as new publics begin to write its story. This commission forms part of How to open, the first year of Protocols for opening the museum, a three-year inquiry into what it means for a new museum in Brussels to be truly open, welcoming and public.