We already know that Shanghai is currently witnessing big transformations in terms of contemporary art and that it aims to become a new cultural capital. Hence, for the first time in its history, the Center Pompidou extends outside Europe.
The architectural complex designed by David Chipperfield Architects occupies a lot of space within the new cultural district of the Chinese metropolis. The French president Emmanuel Macron attended the unmissable opening ceremony.
In the statements relaunched by the French press, the president of Center Pompidou, Serge Lavignes, specified that the new institution will have a "sufficient freedom" to operate in China. After all, France and China (Center Pompidou Paris and the state company West Bund Development Group) have signed a five-year agreement, in which the details of the "cultural mandate" have been defined and for which the French institution seems to lead the exhibition identity of the new museum.
"Situated along the banks of the Huangpu River on Shanghai’s version of Museum Mile, the new outpost is a collaboration with the West Bund Group, a Chinese state-owned development corporation that together with the local government has reportedly invested more than $3 billion in recent years to transform a former industrial neighborhood into a 7-mile waterfront cultural corridor." (The New York Times, ‘Museum Diplomacy’ as New Pompidou Center Opens in Shanghai" by Amy Qin)
The news seems to be confirmed by the first ever-hosted exhibition "The Shape of Things", curated by Marcella Lista and including a hundred of works from the Parisian collection. The exhibition opened on Friday 8 November and will remain open until May 2021. The architectural project was developed by professionals from the studio led by British architect David Chipperfield. The museum has about 25,000 square meters of space. It rises in a disused industrial district of the city, along the northern bank of the Huangpu River, currently undergoing a profound revitalization. Thanks to institutions such as the Long Museum West Bund, the Yuz Museum and the Shanghai Photography Center and many other places of artistic importance, this area seems projected towards a leading role in the cultural offer of the city.