A new Center Pompidou in Jersey City and the cultural conquest of America
This photo taken on June 2, 2021 shows a general view of the Pathside building in Jersey City, which is going to be transformed into the Center Pompidou Jersey City.
The opening is scheduled for 2024. © Ed JONES / AFP
Text by: Siegfried Forster Follow
4 min
“
We are pleased to announce the creation of a future Center Pompidou in Jersey City.
"It was via Twitter that the largest center for modern and contemporary art in Europe shared its first partnership on the American continent, an exclusive North American partnership with an"
unprecedented artistic and societal project
".
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The opening of this new flagship project of the Center Pompidou is scheduled for 2024, in Jersey City, in the New York suburbs. The new center will be housed in the Pathside Building, a former streetcar station, approximately 5,400 square meters, built in 1912. Phil Murphy, Governor of New Jersey, said the place "
is destined to become one. one of the most important cultural attractions in North America
. "
Serge Lasvignes, president of the Center Pompidou, explained to AFP this choice with his conviction that "
it is much more interesting to work with Jersey City which is a little virgin place from this point of view, than to go in a place where the offer is considerable
”, like New York, with its world-famous museums like the MoMA or the Whitney Museum. Serge Lasvignes also underlined that "
in the field of contemporary art, America is crucial
", "
we are completely imbued with American culture
".
We are pleased to announce the creation of a future #CentrePompidouXJerseyCity to be designed by # OMA's architect #JasonLong.
An exclusive North American partnership with Jersey City supported by a unique artistic and societal project.
@StevenFulop @JerseyCity @GovMurphy pic.twitter.com/2gYkdAydYK
- Center Pompidou (@CentrePompidou) June 4, 2021
The global appeal of the Center Pompidou brand and collection
Jersey City, located opposite Manhattan, is considered a former industrial city in full transformation since the 1980s. Regarding the question of financing, the city of Jersey will take charge of the creation of the place, its operation and the associated costs. As for the Center Pompidou, it will bring its brand, its collection and its know-how, but will also obtain financial compensation.
According to the president of the Center Pompidou, the ambition of the project is to use culture as a lever to "
enrich the image
" of the city, but also not to neglect the social dimension to "
develop a community and ensure that people live better together
”.
And at the international level, “
the strategy is not to be a passive spectator, but to be part of this movement of globalization of contemporary art, by going to a certain number of stages ourselves.
"
The new cultural project of the Center Pompidou
In January 2021, the announcement of a total closure of the Center Pompidou-Paris between 2023 and 2027 caused a thunderclap in the art world.
With RFI, Serge Lasvignes had outlined “
a new cultural project
” with “
four strategic axes
” for its reopening and its 50th anniversary in 2027, including “
being able to be a global cultural operator
”.
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