It was March 26, 2020 and it was clear to us that the 6th edition of the Antwerp Art Weekend could not take place. We sent out the following statement on our socials, accompanied by the work of Mekhitar Garabedian, which was presented at Kontrapunt during Antwerp Art Weekend 2019:

"Dear lovers and practitioners of art,
We would prefer not to, but it is with great sadness that we have to announce the cancellation of Antwerp Art Weekend 2020 due to the COVID-19 induced crisis and the following lock down measures that have been taken by the government of Belgium. As the Antwerp Art Weekend would have taken place in May 2020, we see ourselves forced to do so.

Instead of postponing, we will be looking forward to 2021 and hope to transfer all current partnerships into the next edition and come back stronger than before, together.

These are indeed precarious times, especially for health care workers, but also for cultural organizations and artists. Antwerp Art will continue to support and promote artists and visual arts organizations with the means at hand and we would like to call upon our partners, colleagues and visitors to do the same. They will need it, now more than ever.

All the while, stay inside, healthy and let’s beat this thing through compassion, courage and solidarity.

The Antwerp Art team."