The Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (commonly abbreviated as S.M.A.K., translated as City Museum for Contemporary Art) is a relatively new museum located in Ghent, Belgium, and is renowned both for its permanent collection (Art & Language, Karel Appel, Francis Bacon, Panamarenko, Andy Warhol, etc.)
The collection concentrates on international developments in art after 1945, and was based upon works collected by the Contemporary Art Museum Association (created on 8 November 1957 at the instigation of Karel Geirlandt [nl]) and the Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst (set up in 1975 as the first Belgian museum devoted to contemporary art, housed in the Museum of Fine Arts, with Jan Hoet appointed as director).
After Jan Hoet retired from the museum on 1 December 2003, Peter Doroshenko was in charge.
Artists and curators, headed by Luc Tuymans, feared for the future and independence of the museum.
A petition was handed to the Chairman of the Board of Directors; culture vessels Sas Van Rouveroij.