Major new modern and contemporary art museum PoMo opens in Trondheim
Trondheim, Norway's third-largest city, has just welcomed a brand-new private museum to its ranks – PoMo, short for Post Office Modern. Its mission is to make art more accessible, challenge gender inequality in collections, and boost the region's cultural scene.
Set in an Art Nouveau building that used to serve as the city's post office, PoMo spans five floors and 4,000 square metres. The space is a product of the vision and personal art collection of Monica Reitan and Ole Robert Reitan, who've spent over two decades collecting works from artists like Simone Leigh, Louise Bourgeois, Anne Imhof, and Franz West. Ole Robert, who's also a co-owner of the Norwegian retail and finance giant Reitan AS, believes art should be for everyone.
PoMO seeks to 'tear down some of the walls between the art world and most people,' Ole Robert told The Art Newspaper. 'Going into a museum can be a scary thing.'
To bring that vision to life, the couple brought in Iranian-French architect India Mahdavi, who worked alongside Norwegian architect Erik Langdalen to overhaul the space. The goal? A colourful, vibrant environment that feels as much like a public living room as it does a contemporary art gallery.
As well as improving accessibility, PoMo hopes to redefine the art landscape in the region with regard to gender representation. In a statement in the autumn, the museum said its collection 'aims to create a 'new normal' for Norwegian institutions, dedicating a minimum of 60 percent of its acquisitions budget to women artists to tackle gender inequality in museum collections at large'.
The opening exhibit, Postcards from the Future (on until 22 June), dives into the history of the building as a post office, with the postcard serving as a 'thematic metaphor' for the works exhibited.
'Inspired by the diverse perspectives of postcards, the exhibition is presented as a series of small stories where each artist has their own space,' PoMo shares on its website. 'The artists in 'Postcards from the Future' address significant contemporary themes such as community, identity, material culture, nature and urbanity.'
Among the works visitors can expect to see is Katharina Fritsch's 'Madonnenfigur' (1987/2024), a striking yellow sculpture of the Virgin Mary that once stood near a church in Trondheim's bustling shopping district; and Louise Bourgeois' two-headed sculpture 'Arch of Hysteria' (2004).
Looking ahead to 2026, visitors can wander through Ann Veronica Janssens' fog room, where they'll be surrounded by artificial smog.
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