In Search of Utopia

Leuven is celebrating a 500th anniversary. Utopia, the iconic work by Thomas More was printed in Leuven in 1516. And the university city is organizing a festive commemoration with a high-profile exhibition, a city festival and a unique social project. In Search of Utopia will not only be the biggest Flemish exhibition of 2016, but it will feature works that have never been shown in Flanders before. No fewer than 90 masterpieces from across the world are coming to M - Museum Leuven.

Highlights
The Flemish masters Quinten Metsys and Jan Gossaert as well as international artists such as Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein are only a few of the names that will appeal to a broad audience. The organizers are particularly pleased that the famous Portrait of Erasmus by Quinten Metsys has been loaned from the Collection of Queen Elisabeth II of the United Kingdom. In addition, three restored Enclosed Gardens from Mechelen will be exhibited for the very first time, and five of the seven authentic Leuven armillary spheres and two of the finest Leuven astrolabes by Gerard Mercator and Adriaan Zeelst are coming home for the first time. The curator Prof. Dr. Jan Van der Stock (KU Leuven) has devised an exhibition concept within which all of these works are shown to their best advantage.

Thomas More and 500 Years of Utopia: the world comes to Leuven
Type 'Utopia Thomas More' into Google and in half a second you will get 9,300,000 hits. It is 2016, and Utopia is clearly not an irrelevant theme; nor is Thomas More an obscure historical figure. There are not many 500-year-old words that still have the same expressive power as utopia or utopian. Fleming, German, Brit, Spaniard or Russian: to each and all, Utopia evokes worlds of hope and desire.
Thomas More’s ‘golden’ little book was first printed 500 years ago in Leuven. Utopia continues to intrigue generation after generation and the theme is as relevant as it ever was. Diversity, human dignity, tolerance and equal opportunities are the order of the day. A concept that has survived 500 turbulent years is undoubtedly a solid foundation for success. It is no coincidence that the theme of the programme celebrating 500 years of Utopia is 'THE FUTURE IS MORE'