Since 1989, the year the Berlin Wall fell and the year of the *Magiciens de la terre* exhibition at Beaubourg, the hegemony of Western art has declined and other cultural regions and traditions have come into view. In most cases this was accompanied by radical social and cultural changes. The M HKA has undertaken to chart the contemporary art from these other cultural regions. This explains why recent acquisitions have included work by artists from Egypt, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iraq, India and China. In this way the museum is steadily building up a global collection. The basis for this presentation is the literary event Mind the Book. This ‘international festival for the mind’ stimulates a meeting of minds between writers and readers. It challenges other artistic disciplines to come up with points of view, opinions and confrontations. This is a challenge that the M HKA is only too happy to take up. Jef Lambrecht, a j ournalist who for years reported from the Middle East and who was one of the initiators of Mind the Book, invited Belgian artist friends to take part in an exhibition in which they enter into confrontation with ‘the East’. Each artist presents their very personal reflection on the subject. The presentation of works from the collection joins in with works by artists associated in the broadest possible sense with the East. In collaboration with deSingel, international Arts Campus, Antwerp and Vooruit Arts Centre, Ghent

Jef Lambrecht (born in 1984, Avelgem), who, for many years, reported as a journalist from the Middle East, is also a notorious art expert. He invited 14 befriended artists to engage with the Orient. It fascinated Lambrecht that the theme was barely touched in the resulting work created by invited artists. Which does not mean it does not concern them.

The M HKA followed suit along the same lines with its collection presentation of works by artists from Egypt, Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iraq, India and China. The double presentation COLLECTION XXII East from 4°24' offered the public an intriguing glimpse into a region that seems so far off, yet is so crucial for our society.

Artists: Charif Benhelima, Guillaume Bijl, Michaël Borremans, Jan De Cock, Luc Deleu, Jan Kempenaers Ria Pacquée, Guy Rombouts, Luc Tuymans, Koen van den Broek, Anne-Mie van Kerckhoven, Philippe Van Snick, Daniel von Weinberger and Angel Vergara.

The exhibition came as a response to the literary event Mind the Book, an organisation of Internationale Kunstcampus deSingel Antwerp and Vooruit Ghent