The former Millennium Iconoclast Museum of Art (MIMA) in Brussels will become a new music centre with rehearsal studios, workshops, a rooftop bar and concert venue from October.
The former modern art museum closed its doors in January 2025 "after nine incredible years filled with creativity and thousands of visitors," due to public works which disrupted access to the cultural venue located in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
The space will reopen as JAM Sonor powered by VOLTA, a collaboration between the owner of the building, JAM Hotels, and VOLTA, the Brussels organisation supporting emerging musicians.
JAM Sonor will open its doors on the weekend of 2 and 3 October, with a special weekend featuring talks, listening sessions, a music exhibition, concerts and DJ sets. Every week, the space will host two music events as well as industry gatherings and rooftop events from spring 2027.
JAM's Bracket Studio in Ghent. Credit: JAM Hotels
According to a joint statement, JAM Sonor responds to the growing need for affordable, high-quality infrastructure for music creation in the city.
Spread across four floors, the building will bring together rehearsal studios, production facilities, collaborative workspaces, listening sessions, concerts and public programming.
It will not function solely as a concert venue. JAM Sonor is conceived as a place where musicians can develop their practice, exchange ideas, meet audiences and connect with the wider music community.
The project responds to the rising social and economic pressure on artists, particularly after the sweeping cuts by the new regional Brussels Government to cultural grants.
According to JAM Hotels and VOLTA, the need for affordable and qualitative infrastructure for rehearsal, production and presentation has become increasingly important.
Art space closes
The opening of JAM Sonor also marks the closure of the art space Asifose, which had taken up residence inside the building for two years after MIMA's sudden closure.
Under the name Asifose, Espace Aygo took over the building; the young multidisciplinary collective, formed by Salomé Sperling, Line Murken, Jaime Le Bleu and Sijmen Vellekoop, met during their studies at Design Academy Eindhoven before settling in Brussels.
Espace Aygo invited fellow designers and artists to occupy the space. Asifose became a living environment, a workshop, a meeting place and an experimental platform all at once.
Credit: JAM Hotels
"Asifose showed what becomes possible when artists and designers are given the freedom to occupy and transform a space. JAM Sonor builds on that experience by creating a lasting infrastructure for Brussels' music community," JAM and Volta said in a joint statement.
JAM is a series of open-door hotels in Brussels, Ghent, Porto and Lisbon, which claims not to be hoteliers, but a collective of engineers, designers, creators, environmentalists and chefs.
VOLTA is a Brussels-based music centre that has made a lasting contribution to developing musical talent in Brussels and beyond for more than 7 years.
It does this by supporting artists throughout their careers via logistical, technical, and artistic support. They say this enables innovative talent to experiment, grow, and contribute to a diverse, resilient, and forward-looking music ecosystem in Brussels, Belgium, and beyond.
Located in the heart of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, the former MIMA building was a modern art venue which opened in 2016 and closed in 2024. It was located on the Quai du Hainaut in Molenbeek, at the site of the former BelleVue brewery on the bank of the Brussels-Charleroi canal.
