Centre Pompidou and Hanwha to join forces on Korean branch

The Centre Pompidou, a complex in Paris that is home to Europe’s largest collection of modern and contemporary art, is joining forces with Hanwha to open a branch in Korea. According to the French daily newspaper Le Monde on Wednesday...

An aerial view shows the Centre Pompidou modern art museum, also known as Beaubourg, and rooftops of residential buildings in Paris, France, July 8, 2016. [REUTERS]

The Centre Pompidou, a complex in Paris that is home to Europe’s largest collection of modern and contemporary art, is joining forces with Hanwha to open a branch in Korea.

According to the French daily newspaper Le Monde on Wednesday, the center is aiming to open in the fall of 2025. It will take up three floors of the 63 Building in Yeouido, western Seoul, spanning across a total of 12,000 square meters (129,167 square feet).

“It’s true that we’re discussing with the Centre Pompidou but nothing has been finalized,” a Hanwha representative said.

But experts in the art industry say that the two parties have virtually already reached an agreement and that they are waiting to make an official announcement. There is also talk that discussions about two exhibitions for the center have almost reached a conclusion.

Rumblings about a Korean branch of the Centre Pompidou have been popping up since around a decade ago, but nothing has been set into action.

Recently, local government members have made efforts to go forward with the project. Busan mayor Park Heong-joon visited France in January 2022, meeting with Laurent Le Bon, the president of the Centre Pompidou, to talk about opening the Korean branch.

In November that year, Incheon mayor Yoo Jeong-bok also met with Le Bon to request that the branch be opened in Incheon.

The Centre Pompidou opened in 1977 and houses a modern and contemporary art museum as well as a public library. There are additional branches in Metz, France; Málaga, Spain and Brussels, Belgium. In 2019 it established its first Asian branch in Shanghai, China.

BY KIM JI-HYE [kjdculture@joongang.co.kr]