Latest news with #PompidouCenter
Euronews
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
A peek inside Paris' Pompidou Center before its five-year revamp
The Pompidou Center, one of Paris' most radical and beloved cultural institutions, is preparing to shut its doors this autumn for a major five-year renovation. The renovation will see asbestos removed from all facades, major fire safety upgrades, and entire floors reconfigured - including the creation of a new level dedicated to children. Its vast collection of modern and contemporary masterpieces will be dispersed across museums in Paris, throughout France, and beyond. Work is set to begin by the end of 2025, with a grand reopening planned for 2030. The building that broke the rules and caused a scandal With its unconventionally exposed pipes and skeletal escalators crawling across the exterior, the Pompidou was once considered an architectural scandal. Early critics mockingly dubbed it the 'Notre-Dame of the Pipes,' appalled by its defiant break from the orderly elegance of Haussmannian Paris. But over time, the building - designed by then-unknown young architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers and opened in 1977 - won over the hearts of the public. Commissioned by and named after President Georges Pompidou - who died before its completion - the building was born from his radical vision: a place where art and life would collide, and where disciplines from painting to performance could coexist under one roof. Today the Pompidou holds more than 120,000 works of modern and contemporary art, featuring iconic pieces by Louise Bourgeois, Frida Kahlo, Joan Miró, Marcel Duchamp, Marc Chagall, and many more. No wonder it's such a hit. In 2024 alone, the centre drew over 3 million visitors, making it one of Paris' most visited institutions - second only to the Louvre (8 million) and the Musée d'Orsay (3.7 million). This year, the institution staged one of its most ambitious and politically resonant shows in recent memory. Titled Paris Noir, the exhibition (which ran until late June) traced the rich, too-often overlooked contributions of Black artists from Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean who lived in or passed through Paris between 1950 and 2000. With over 150 artists - from Wifredo Lam to Luce Turnier, Beauford Delaney to Agustín Cárdenas - the show was a sweeping and visually powerful re-mapping of post-colonial modernity. Now, the final major show before the Pompidou's shutdown is a sweeping retrospective of German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. Sprawled across what used to be the public library, the show brings together over three decades of work by the Turner Prize-winning artist, widely regarded as one of the most influential photographers of his generation. Titled Nothing could have prepared us – Everything could have prepared us, the retrospective showcases his wide-ranging approach to image-making across portraiture, still life, architecture, documentary photography, and abstraction. The Wolfgang Tillmans retrospective runs until 22 September 2025.
Associated Press
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Pharrell Williams brings India and Beyoncé to Louis Vuitton's Pompidou runway
PARIS (AP) — The birds scattered in every direction as the first drumbeat thundered across the plaza outside Paris' Pompidou Center Tuesday, clearing the way for a different kind of flight: Beyoncé and Jay-Z swept into the front row. The star couple anchored a guest list at Pharrell Williams' latest Louis Vuitton spectacle that doubled as a map of contemporary culture now: Bradley Cooper, J-Hope, Karol G, Pinkpanthress, Future, Pusha T, Jackson Wang, Bambam, Mason Thames, Miles Caton, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Malcolm Washington, Jalen Ramsey, and A$AP Nast. If there was any question about the gravitational pull of Louis Vuitton under Williams, it evaporated before the first look hit the runway. This was no ordinary catwalk: Williams — half showman, half pop impresario — staged a cultural passage from Paris to Mumbai, fusing Indian tradition and modern dandyism into a punchy, sunstruck vision of the Vuitton man in 2026. In Vuitton's world, a show is never just a show. It's a takeover, a mood. On Tuesday, the Pompidou's iconic colored pipes served as a sci-fi backdrop for a set dreamed up with Studio Mumbai architect Bijoy Jain: a life-size 'Snakes and Ladders' board, alluding to both the child's game and the adult risks of fashion's global game. For Williams, the house's mantra of travel is less about destination, more about movemen. Up, down, sideways, sunward. The clothes? This season, they marched to their own drumbeat. Out came models in Indian-style chunky sandals, striped boxy shorts and blue preppy shirts with sleeves billowing like monsoon sails. Silken cargo pants shimmered in the sun; pin-striped puffers added a louche, almost Bollywood-kitsch edge. Cricket jerseys appeared with jeweled collars or — why not? — a puffy hood dripping with rhinestones. Blue pearlescent leather bombers flirted with the bling of Mumbai's film sets, while pin-striped tailoring riffed on both the British Raj and Parisian boulevardiers. If all this felt like cultural collision, that's by design. Williams' Vuitton has become a mood board for global wanderlust: the checked silks, the mismatched stripes, the trompe l'oeil fabrics that look sun-faded by actual adventures. It's a nod to the itinerant dandyism that's fast becoming his Vuitton calling card. Less about nostalgia, more about now. But don't mistake the globe-trotting optimism for naivety. There's calculation in the chaos. Williams' references bounce from Kenzo 's Nigo (his onetime collaborator) to Indian contemporary artisans — like the hand-beaded snakes slithering across shirts, or the sandalwood-scented linens that recall a summer in Rajasthan. The 'worldwide community' Vuitton preaches is real, but it's also realpolitik: What could be more luxurious in 2025 than clothing that tries to please everyone and everywhere, without losing itself? Of course, with Vuitton, the accessories make the man and this season's bags, bejeweled sandals and hardware-heavy necklaces delivered the requisite Instagram bait, each a covetable passport stamp in leather or gold. It's maximalism, sure, but not just for the TikTok set: the craftsmanship, from sun-bleached cloth to hand-loomed stripes, rewards anyone who bothers to look twice. If there's a criticism, it's that sometimes the noise of references threatens to drown out the signal. Williams piles motif on motif, color on color, joy on joy, until coherence blurs into sheer, Dionysian energy. But maybe that's the point: In a season of global anxiety the Vuitton man chooses to strut, sparkle, and swerve. LVMH, the world's largest luxury group, posted record revenue of 84.7 billion euros in 2024, with its Fashion & Leather Goods division anchored by Louis Vuitton still leading the pack. With a market value near $455 billion and over 6,300 stores worldwide, Vuitton remains the world's most valuable luxury brand. Even with a recent dip in sales, its scale and influence are unmatched. As the last look circled the Pompidou and the birds resettled, Vuitton's odyssey felt less like a fashion show and more like an announcement: the world is a game board, the ladders are real, and Louis Vuitton is still rolling the dice.
Al-Ahram Weekly
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Al-Ahram Weekly
150 artists of African descent celebrated in ‘Black Paris' exhibition at Pompidou Center - Visual Art - Arts & Culture
An unprecedented exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris explores the presence and influence of Black artists in the city from the 1950s to 2000, offering a vibrant immersion in France's cosmopolitan capital and a history of anti-colonial, civil rights struggles. The 'Black Paris' exhibition features the works of about 150 major artists of African descent, many of whom have never or rarely been displayed in France before. Running from March 19 to June 30, it's one of the final shows before the museum closes for a five-year renovation later this year. Éva Barois De Caevel, associate curator, said that the exhibition is 'unprecedented,' with more than 300 paintings and sculptures by artists of various backgrounds. 'Some are African Americans, some are Caribbeans, some are Africans, and some are Afro-descendants,' said Barois De Caevel, adding that the focus of the exhibit is not geography or race, but rather 'Black consciousness,' shaped by the history of slavery and experience of racism shared by Black artists. After World War II, many African American painters, musicians, and intellectuals flocked to Paris, seeking a sense of freedom that they couldn't find in the United States at the time. Barois De Caevel pointed out that for many, Paris represented a break from the racial segregation that they faced back home. 'Many enjoyed being free in the streets of Paris — being able to go out with white women, enter cafes, bars and restaurants, and be treated like white people,' she said. 'But they were not fooled,' she added, noting that African American writer James Baldwin 'wrote about this early on, that in France, racism is especially targeting Black Africans and Algerians, who were really extremely mistreated. So it's an ambivalent relationship with Paris.' The exhibition also shows how many African artists from French colonies — and later former colonies — came to Paris to join a political and intellectual movement fighting for civil rights and racial justice, while others from the Caribbean were supporting independentist movements, which were gaining strength there. Alicia Knock, curator of the exhibition, praised the ambitious scope of the show, which she described as 'an incredible epic of decolonization,' highlighting how Paris city served as both a 'lab for Pan-Africanism,' the movement that encouraged solidarity between peoples of African descent, and an 'anti-colonial workshop.' Visitors 'will see how these artists contributed to rewriting the history of modernism and postmodernism,' Knock said, and how they 'reframed abstraction and surrealism, and at the same time you will also see the Black solidarities that happened at the time.' 'Many of these artists were not only creators, but also cultural ambassadors, teachers, poets, and philosophers,' she added. For some coming from the U.S., Paris was also 'a gateway to Africa,' Knock said, based on discussions she had with some of the artists' families: 'They told us that, in fact, they had come to Paris to go to Africa, and in the end they found Africa in Paris.' The exhibition also includes installations from four artists chosen to provide contemporary insights, including Shuck One, a Black graffiti and visual artist native of the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. In addition, the Pompidou Center has acquired around 40 of the show's artworks, which will remain part of the museum's collection. 'This is just the beginning,' Knock said. 'It's a baby step for many French institutions, French museums and French universities to start working on these artists, start collecting them, writing about them, preserving their works in their archives and hopefully dedicating a lot of solo shows to many of these artists, because they really deserve it.' Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Nahar Net
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Nahar Net
150 artists of African descent celebrated in 'Black Paris' exhibition at Pompidou Center
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 March 2025, 14:35 An unprecedented exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris explores the presence and influence of Black artists in the city from the 1950s to 2000, offering a vibrant immersion in France's cosmopolitan capital and a history of anti-colonial, civil rights struggles. The "Black Paris" exhibition features the works of about 150 major artists of African descent, many of whom have never or rarely been displayed in France before. Running from March 19 to June 30, it's one of the final shows before the museum closes for a five-year renovation later this year. Éva Barois De Caevel, associate curator, said that the exhibition is "unprecedented," with more than 300 paintings and sculptures by artists of various backgrounds. "Some are African Americans, some are Caribbeans, some are Africans, and some are Afro-descendants," said Barois De Caevel, adding that the focus of the exhibit is not geography or race, but rather "Black consciousness," shaped by the history of slavery and experience of racism shared by Black artists. After World War II, many African American painters, musicians, and intellectuals flocked to Paris, seeking a sense of freedom that they couldn't find in the United States at the time. Barois De Caevel pointed out that for many, Paris represented a break from the racial segregation that they faced back home. "Many enjoyed being free in the streets of Paris — being able to go out with white women, enter cafes, bars and restaurants, and be treated like white people," she said. "But they were not fooled," she added, noting that African American writer James Baldwin "wrote about this early on, that in France, racism is especially targeting Black Africans and Algerians, who were really extremely mistreated. So it's an ambivalent relationship with Paris." The exhibition also shows how many African artists from French colonies — and later former colonies — came to Paris to join a political and intellectual movement fighting for civil rights and racial justice, while others from the Caribbean were supporting independentist movements, which were gaining strength there. Alicia Knock, curator of the exhibition, praised the ambitious scope of the show, which she described as "an incredible epic of decolonization," highlighting how Paris city served as both a "lab for Pan-Africanism," the movement that encouraged solidarity between peoples of African descent, and an "anti-colonial workshop." Visitors "will see how these artists contributed to rewriting the history of modernism and postmodernism," Knock said, and how they "reframed abstraction and surrealism, and at the same time you will also see the Black solidarities that happened at the time." "Many of these artists were not only creators, but also cultural ambassadors, teachers, poets, and philosophers," she added. For some coming from the U.S., Paris was also "a gateway to Africa," Knock said, based on discussions she had with some of the artists' families: "They told us that, in fact, they had come to Paris to go to Africa, and in the end they found Africa in Paris." The exhibition also includes installations from four artists chosen to provide contemporary insights, including Shuck One, a Black graffiti and visual artist native of the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. In addition, the Pompidou Center has acquired around 40 of the show's artworks, which will remain part of the museum's collection. "This is just the beginning," Knock said. "It's a baby step for many French institutions, French museums and French universities to start working on these artists, start collecting them, writing about them, preserving their works in their archives and hopefully dedicating a lot of solo shows to many of these artists, because they really deserve it."
Asharq Al-Awsat
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
150 Artists of African Descent Celebrated in ‘Black Paris' Exhibition at Pompidou Center
An unprecedented exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris explores the presence and influence of Black artists in the city from the 1950s to 2000, offering a vibrant immersion in France's cosmopolitan capital and a history of anti-colonial, civil rights struggles. The 'Black Paris' exhibition features the works of about 150 major artists of African descent, many of whom have never or rarely been displayed in France before. Running from March 19 to June 30, it's one of the final shows before the museum closes for a five-year renovation later this year. Éva Barois De Caevel, associate curator, said that the exhibition is 'unprecedented,' with more than 300 paintings and sculptures by artists of various backgrounds. 'Some are African Americans, some are Caribbeans, some are Africans, and some are Afro-descendants,' said Barois De Caevel, adding that the focus of the exhibit is not geography or race, but rather 'Black consciousness,' shaped by the history of slavery and experience of racism shared by Black artists. After World War II, many African American painters, musicians, and intellectuals flocked to Paris, seeking a sense of freedom that they couldn't find in the United States at the time. Barois De Caevel pointed out that for many, Paris represented a break from the racial segregation that they faced back home. 'Many enjoyed being free in the streets of Paris — being able to go out with white women, enter cafes, bars and restaurants, and be treated like white people,' she said. 'But they were not fooled," she added, noting that African American writer James Baldwin "wrote about this early on, that in France, racism is especially targeting Black Africans and Algerians, who were really extremely mistreated. So it's an ambivalent relationship with Paris.' The exhibition also shows how many African artists from French colonies — and later former colonies — came to Paris to join a political and intellectual movement fighting for civil rights and racial justice, while others from the Caribbean were supporting independentist movements, which were gaining strength there. Alicia Knock, curator of the exhibition, praised the ambitious scope of the show, which she described as 'an incredible epic of decolonization,' highlighting how Paris city served as both a 'lab for Pan-Africanism,' the movement that encouraged solidarity between peoples of African descent, and an 'anti-colonial workshop.' Visitors 'will see how these artists contributed to rewriting the history of modernism and postmodernism,' Knock said, and how they 'reframed abstraction and surrealism, and at the same time you will also see the Black solidarities that happened at the time.' 'Many of these artists were not only creators, but also cultural ambassadors, teachers, poets, and philosophers,' she added. For some coming from the US, Paris was also 'a gateway to Africa,' Knock said, based on discussions she had with some of the artists' families: 'They told us that, in fact, they had come to Paris to go to Africa, and in the end they found Africa in Paris.' The exhibition also includes installations from four artists chosen to provide contemporary insights, including Shuck One, a Black graffiti and visual artist native of the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. In addition, the Pompidou Center has acquired around 40 of the show's artworks, which will remain part of the museum's collection. 'This is just the beginning,' Knock said. 'It's a baby step for many French institutions, French museums and French universities to start working on these artists, start collecting them, writing about them, preserving their works in their archives and hopefully dedicating a lot of solo shows to many of these artists, because they really deserve it.'
