Today, Middelheim Museum is best known for its collection of sculptures in the art park. However, since its creation, the museum has also collected a great deal of work to be displayed indoors. When the museum was founded, its mission was to provide as complete an overview as possible of international sculpture from the end of the nineteenth century to the museum’s own time. In addition, the museum also brought together extensive supporting collections: models, drawings and prints, media art and photography. And sometimes works intended for outdoor use turned out to be more suitable for indoor use. Just over 80% of the works of art in the Middelheim collection are therefore stored in depots that are closed to the public.

Because the museum wants to offer maximum access to the collections in all their diversity, it has now transformed one such closed repository into an open depot. An initial, surprising selection of artworks has been unpacked there for the public. These works were not selected by a single expert, but by a group of highly diverse stakeholders, which is why the pavilion contains both traditional masterpieces and surprising discoveries. Works by Giacometti, Trampedach, Rosso, Picininni, Gentils, Köllwitz, Lohaus, De Bruyckere, Chetwynd, Deacon, Zadkine and others are simply and functionally presented, sometimes in their entirety, sometimes only partially unpacked.

At the back of the pavilion, Middelheim Museum focuses on a single sculpture for a certain period of time. The intention here is to actively discover together with the public how artworks accrue meanings and sometimes evolve physically, and how values shift over time. The first work to be highlighted is 'Résidence Terrestre' (1995) by Michel François.

The museum invites you to become acquainted with these hidden art works and to continue to discover new perspectives on the collection in the future.