The Pompidou Centre is to open its first North American satellite museum in 2024 in a renovated industrial building in Jersey City bordering New York, the museum and city announced on Friday.
The Pompidou already has a number of global outposts for its vast collection of art works: Malaga was opened in 2015, Brussels in 2018, Shanghai in 2019, and its younger French sister was inaugurated the eastern city of Metz in 2010.
Its American cousin will be housed in the 5,000 square-metre Pathside Building in New Jersey, which was constructed in 1912 and was originally part of a train station.
Called Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, it will be available to local artists and multidisciplinary in nature, housing visual and performing arts, architecture and design, said Pompidou Centre president Serge Lasvignes.
"In the field of contemporary art, America is crucial," he said.
We are pleased to announce the creation of a future #CentrePompidouXJerseyCity to be designed by #OMA's architect #JasonLong.
— Centre Pompidou (@CentrePompidou) June 4, 2021
An exclusive North American partnership with Jersey City supported by a unique artistic and societal project. @StevenFulop @JerseyCity @GovMurphy pic.twitter.com/2gYkdAydYK
As with its other partnerships, the local partner pays for renovating the building and operating costs.
New Jersey will also pay the museum an annual fee of up to 6 million dollars over the course of the five-year contract to cover branding, project development, educational programming and the organisation of exhibitions, the NY Times reported.
In return, the Pompidou Centre, which closes in Paris for renovation work for nearly four years begininning at the end of 2023, will share works from its 120,000-piece collection for display.
Jersey City, located on the west banks of the Hudson River, opposite New York City, is a former industrial city undergoing major change, with luxury towers replacing factories.
Lasvignes said Jersey's burgeoning arts scene made it a more interesting proposition than New York itself, which already has two major contemporary art museums: MoMa and the Whitney.
(with AFP)
