The New MAS Museum in Antwerp, Belgium Opens - ArtNews Magazine - Artists, Museums, Galleries, Exhibitions

artwork: Models of ships are seen on display at the MAS Museum in Antwerp, Belgium. A new iconic building is rising on cultural horizon. Stunning from the outside it also has superb art inside, all linked to the centuries-old tradition of one of the world's biggest ports.

ANTWERP (AP).- One of the world’s great port cities has long been known for its heady mix of grit, refinement and bravado. On Friday, it had a museum to match. Built on the docks of a once-derelict neighborhood, the MAS Museum hosts homegrown treasures and those that tall ships brought in from around the globe for centuries. And the audacious, sandstone-and-glass tower has already turned into a 65-meter tall exclamation mark shows Antwerp has lost none of its swagger. “We are in a beautiful shrine,” said MAS museum director Carl Depauw. “It has turned into an absolute icon for the city.”