“Centre Pompidou Hanwha”: the name in black letters sits on a translucent facade in Yéouido, the business district of Seoul. This Thursday, June 4, a little air of Beaubourg should blow over the South Korean capital, with the inauguration of a branch of the French museum of contemporary art. After Spain and China, the Center Pompidou has indeed chosen to set up shop in South Korea.
The partnership signed for a period of four years with the Hanwha conglomerate plans to offer two exhibitions per year in this new museum. The 10,000 square meter building, which is intended to be a “box of light”, was designed by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Its first exhibition on Cubism brings together 91 works loaned by the Parisian museum, by 43 artists, ranging from Pablo Picasso to Georges Braque.
This new example demonstrates the French museum’s desire to continue to export. Because if everyone has the Louvre Abu Dhabi in mind, the Center Pompidou is indeed the most dynamic institution in terms of international establishment, with three branches already open abroad and two others in the works.
Spain: the Pompidou Center in Malaga, since 2015
The Pompidou Center in Malaga is the first branch of a French museum to be permanently established abroad. Inaugurated in 2015 in the hometown of Pablo Picasso in Andalusia, it is located in the marina, in a colored glass cube, nicknamed “El Cubo”, designed by the French artist Daniel Buren.
Two to three exhibitions take place there each year. The works loaned by Beaubourg rub shoulders with those of contemporary Spanish artists. The first partnership signed for a period of five years was extended in 2020 then in 2025, for a period of ten years.
Since its opening, the establishment has welcomed approximately 133,000 visitors per year. According to the Court of Auditors, it generated 1.8 million euros in annual revenue for the Parisian establishment, or 3% of the Center Pompidou’s own resources.
United Arab Emirates: the Louvre Abu Dhabi, since 2017
Even if the project was criticized at its origin, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, inaugurated in November 2017, is today presented as a success of French cultural diplomacy. The museum welcomed more than 1.4 million visitors in 2024, a record since its opening, bringing its cumulative attendance to more than 6 million visitors.
This “Louvre of the Sands”, as it was nicknamed, was designed by the architect Jean Nouvel on the island of Saadiyat. It has a permanent collection of around 600 works. It is supplemented by regular loans from 19 French partner institutions, including the Louvre Museum but also the Musée d’Orsay, the Center Pompidou, the Château de Versailles and the Musée du Quai-Branly-Jacques-Chirac.
The war in the Middle East and the Iranian strikes on the Gulf countries have given these institutions that have made loans a cold sweat, reports the latest issue of Canard Enchainée, while Iranian drones fell on March 1 300 meters from the museum.
For the moment, the Louvre Museum does not plan to open other branches abroad. The Franco-UAE agreement for the exploitation of the “Louvre” brand has been extended until 2047.
China: the Pompidou Center in Shanghai, since 2019
Inaugurated in November 2019, the “Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum” in Shanghai is the second example of a contemporary art museum setting up abroad. Located in a cultural district on the banks of the Huangpu River, it is located in a vast rectangular building made of glass and metal, designed by architect David Chipperfield.
Despite a difficult start, due to the Covid-19 pandemic which followed the launch, the museum welcomes an average of 2 million visitors per year. The cultural partnership project with France was renewed in 2023 for five years. Thanks to the fee, this Chinese center should bring in between 3 and 4 million euros per year for Beaubourg.
Belgium: planned reopening of the Center Pompidou in Brussels
France has already briefly opened a Pompidou Center in the Belgian capital, between May 2018 and June 2019. Installed in a former Citroën garage dating from the 1930s, this space had to close to carry out renovation work. It is due to reopen in Brussels next November.
This project, which has been postponed several times, is not unanimously accepted in Belgium. “We don’t have a penny from our government, when the Center Pompidou receives 2 million euros per year,” criticized Dirk Snauwaert, director of the Brussels art center Wiels, to Le Monde in 2023. “Belgium is full of very beautiful private collections which could have been promoted. Collectors do not understand why we went abroad to find what is already there,” added Diane Hennebert, administrator of the Boghossian Foundation.
Brazil: a Pompidou center planned near Iguaçu Falls
The Pompidou Center and the state of Parana in Brazil formalized last year the signing of a five-year agreement to open a branch of the museum near Iguaçu Falls. Its inauguration is scheduled for November 2027 in Foz do Iguaçu. “Located in the heart of the triple border, where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet, the place will honor the artistic creation of the South American continent,” indicates the Parisian museum in a press release.
On the other hand, the establishment of a Pompidou Center in Jersey City, opposite Manhattan in the United States, was abandoned. After several years of postponements and budgetary difficulties, the city’s Democratic mayor threw in the towel, deeming the project unviable, while he dreamed of a new contemporary art museum to revitalize a district located opposite the City.
