"Come and meet Antwerp in the world, come and meet the world in Antwerp" is the flag this 15,000 square-metre building sails under, and you can find it in the very heart of the old port, Het Eilandje. The opening festival of the Museum aan de Stroom, or Museum on the Stream - Antwerp's long-awaited civic pride and joy - is from 13-16 May.

The new city museum is the brainchild of Antwerp's former culture alderman Eric Anthonis, who quite understandably applauds the Dutch Neutelings Riedijk Architects. "I was immediately won over by their entry for our international architectural competition, as they were the only ones who suggested a tower," he says. And we all liked the idea of a fourth tower in Antwerp - one for the people."

The striking design of the building is based on matchboxes piled on top of each other. What works with matchboxes doesn't work with a building, however, and a central core had to be built first, from which massive beams were hung that support the separate boxes. Each floor consists of a box that contains a windowless exhibition hall and a glass hallway on one of the outer sides. The glass walls are rippled, which adds an extra dimension to the ever-changing views. Escalators spiral the public right to the top for a magnificent 360-degree view.

The MAS has the only observation deck in Antwerp open to public. The free entry policy - separate from the museum - should ensure a constant flow of visitors to the spiralling hallways, dubbed Wandelboulevard (Walking Boulevard).

"We hope to see lots of people bringing their newspaper or using the multi-media displays. The roof remains open until midnight," says Steven Thielemans, general director of Museums and Heritage Antwerp. Even to the population of Antwerp, it's a rare sight to see their city from this high up, and they are suitably amazed. "I can see the ring road. Is Antwerp that small?" questions one visitor during the press event last week. And there's a river and a port as far as the eye can see.

A revolution!
Philip Heylen, Antwerp's current alderman for culture and tourism, says the design encourages looking inward to our perhaps slightly forgotten heritage, but without forgetting the world outside. He hopes not just the roof, but the square next to the building will draw visitors. "The world is on fire right now, and those revolutions all take place in squares," he notes.

It's only from the roof of the MAS that you can distinguish the skull-shaped mosaic built into the square in subtle grey tones by celebrated Flemish artist Luc Tuymans. "Dead Skull" refers to the vanitas idea, the ultimate fruitlessness of human life. The little hands that seem to hold the deep red tiles from Rajasthan in place each represent a gift from a sponsor. (You can still buy one; they range from €1,000 to €10,000.)

Undoubtedly, the whole neighbourhood will benefit from the new museum. Mayor Patrick Janssens sees the MAS as the finishing touch of the first phase of his urban development scheme. "The population of Antwerp is very diverse, and we want to encourage everyone to rediscover or to develop a tight bond with this city, their city."

The history of Antwerp, in one spot
The MAS combines collections of the formerly scattered city museums, 470,000 pieces from the Ethnographic Museum, the Folklore Museum, the Maritime Museum and the Vleeshuis (Butcher's Hall).

The first floor of the MAS holds the free-entry "Visible Storage", where the public can catch a glimpse of 180,000 items that tell the story of some prolific local collectors. Go in, open drawers and see restorers at work.

Each exhibition hall is divided into a succession of rooms. You'll get a first feel of the theme on offer in the so-called "Sensory Room", where music by house composer Eric Sleichim greets you. You leave each exhibition hall through the "Trace Room", where each visitor is invited to leave a trace, either by putting a message in a bottle or by touching a display of different materials, like copper or silk, to see how, over time, repeated human touch affects them.

The formerly separate museum collections are organised into different themes, one on each floor. I was very much impressed by the imaginative design throughout, the work of Antwerp's B-Architects. The lighting is superb, and the collection of Congolese masks, for instance, stands out beautifully in the section "Displays of Power".

In the "Metropolis" section, you can see how Antwerp has portrayed itself to the world, for instance by organising World Fairs and Olympic games. A beautiful set of photographs by Flemish photographer Karin Borghouts form the link to the present. In "World Port", you can smell the goods that have passed through Antwerp. Sailors, meanwhile, have their own story to tell. The MAS went to the sea port city Matadi, Congo, to collect testimonies on Antwerp. And in a small dictionary for Chinese sailors, you can read the useful phrases: "Have you any marks on your body?" and "Shut down the damper".

The two-storey "Life and Death" deals with life- confirming death rituals in various cultures and religions. Furthermore, the MAS is extremely proud to be able to present the unequalled collection of Pre-Colombian art owned by Dora Janssen.

MASterpieces
The MAS' current temporary exhibition is titled Masterpieces in the MAS: Five Centuries of Images in Antwerp and will run until the end of 2012. It brings together work from the city's Museum of Contemporary Art, Plantin-Moretus Museum and the temporarily closed Royal Museum of Fine Arts.

"We wondered what makes Antwerp different than any other baroque city or any other port," explains Bart De Baere, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA). The conclusion was the port city's unique insight in the diverse functions of an image. "The very basis of modern art was laid right here," continues De Baere, "and at three key moments in time, new ideas were shaped here."

First, the 15th-century Flemish Primitives broke free of the ideoplastic art that preceded them, turning towards reality for inspiration. Next, during the 16th century, Antwerp became a world centre in art, a sort of Hollywood for the Spanish Empire, producing and exporting convincing propaganda images, not only in allegorical paintings but in print and engravings. Religion meets science in the central room, a cabinet of curiosities.

The storyline takes us alternately through black rooms with classical paintings and white rooms with modern counterparts. The Flemish artists on display are indeed the finest; among them Jan Fabre, Luc Tuymans, Raoul De Keyser, Koen van den Broek and David Claerbout. Where the exhibition started off with a beautiful selection of coins, stamped with the noble profiles of kings and emperors, it ends with the zero dollar bills of Brazilian conceptual artist Cildo Meireles, art as an alternative, valuable economy.

Carl Depauw, former curator at the The Rubens House and now the director of MAS, is confident. "This opening is merely the start. We have to continue our efforts and bring dynamic programmes that will hopefully engage visitors for a long time to come."

Alice in Wonderland will have a ball at the lighthouse.

www.mas.be

The MAS Festival

This weekend, 13 to 16 May, finds a whole range of exhibitions, dance, music and theatre in the MAS and across the neighbourhood from early morning until midnight every day. Fireworks will illuminate the MAS site on Saturday at 23:00. Museum entry is free during the festival, but it's best to book in advance by telephone at 078.052.050, in person at the ticket office of the MAS or online. After the festival, access to the observation deck will always be free; entry to the museum is €8, less for seniors and young people. www.openingsfestivalmas.be

The MAS in 10 floors

0 reception area and MAS café Storm
1 administrative offices
2 visible storage: On Collecting and Collectors
3 temporary exhibitions: Masterpieces in the MAS (until 30 December, 2012)
4 permanent collection: Displays of Power, On Prestige and Symbols
5 permanent collection: Metropolis, On Here and Elsewhere
6 permanent collection: World Port, On Trade and Shipping
7 permanent collection: Life and Death, On Men and Gods
8 permanent collection: Life and Death, On the Upper- and Underworld
9 restaurant and reception hall
10 observation deck (free access)

and two things to know...
1 Unlike in many museums, you are allowed to take photos throughout the MAS

2 Non-Dutch speakers are advised to buy the MAS guidebook for €7.50 or bring a smart phone, as only labels in Dutch accompany the objects on display