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Malaga art boom draws ‘pop-up Pompidou’

The southern Spanish city of Malaga is set to be the home of the first ever Pompidou museum outside of France, a further boost to the city's growing reputation as a hub for the arts.

Malaga art boom draws 'pop-up Pompidou'
Paris's iconic Pompidou Centre hopes that its Spanish satellite will raise the museum's international profile and provide funds to offset budget cuts. Photo: Saitor/Saitor

The custom 'Cube' construction, designed as the first-ever satellite museum of Paris's famous Pompidou Centre, will open in March 2015.

Displaying significant pieces including works by the city's most famous artist, Picasso, 'El Cubo', will be erected on Quay no. 1 of Malaga's harbour and remain in place for at least five years.

The local government of Picasso's native city has agreed to contribute €2.1 million (€2.75 million) to the project being jointly run with France's national museum of art.

It cements Malaga's growing reputation as a hub for culture, evidenced by the presence of over 30 museums, including the major Picasso Museum, which opened in 2003.

The city is also set to welcome a branch of Saint Petersburg's State Russian Museum in 2015.

Malaga's mayor, Francisco de la Torre Prados, described El Cubo's location in a statement as "an excellent entry and crossing point for the many tourists visiting the historical centre."

According to art industry journal The Art Newspaper, the first 93 permanent pieces to travel to Malaga from Pariswill include 'Ghost,' by Kader Attia, Max Ernst’s 1961 'The Imbecile', Francis Bacon’s 1971 Self-portrait,  a piece by Catalan artist Joan Miró, and 'The Flowered Hat', a 1940 piece by Picasso.

As well as 2,000 square metres of display spaces for permanent exhibitions and 362 square metres for rotating temporary exhibitions, El Cubo will also feature a 128-seat auditorium plus 'Studio 13/16', an area dedicated to teenagers.

"Through its mediation work with audiences, the Centre Pompidou fosters wide attendance and primarily addresses those who are not naturally drawn to visit museums," said the Pompidou in a press statement.

Three companies – Heineken, Unicaja and Italcementi – have agreed to sponsor El Cubo to offset costs to the city hall.

Local daily La Opinion de Malaga reported that El Cubo is expected to generate 400 new jobs and generate annual revenues of over €18.5 million thanks to an anticipated 200,000 visitors a year.

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PICASSO

Picasso murals removed from Oslo building damaged by Breivik

Despite protests, the removal of two murals designed by Pablo Picasso began on Monday from an Oslo government building damaged in right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's 2011 attack, a project manager said.

Picasso murals removed from Oslo building damaged by Breivik
The mural “The Fishermen” by Pablo Picasso and the Norwegian artist Carl Nesja is scaffolded at the Y-block in the government quarter in Oslo on July 27th. Photo: AFP

The “Y Block”, a government building complex named for its shape, is scheduled to be demolished due to damage from explosives that Breivik set before going on a shooting rampage, killing a combined 77 people.

On its grey cement walls are two drawings by Picasso that were sandblasted by Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who collaborated with the Spanish master painter.

On the facade facing the street, “The Fishermen” depicts three men hauling their oversized catch onto their boat. In the lobby, “The Seagull” shows the bird, its wings spread wide, devouring a fish.

 

On Monday, the works, weighing 250 and 60 tonnes respectively, were enclosed in massive metal supports to be transported away and stored nearby, according to Statsbygg, the public agency in charge of overseeing the demolition.

“The operation is very slow” and should be completed by Thursday or Friday, site manager Pal Weiby told AFP.

The plan is to integrate the works into a new government building scheduled for completion in 2025.

Opponents of the project, both in Norway and abroad, have been mobilising in recent years to save the building, calling for it to be renovated and preserved as has been planned for its neighbour, “Block H”.

“Block H” was home to the prime minister's offices until Breivik blew up a van loaded with 950 kilogrammes (2,100 pounds) of explosives at its base, before he went on to carry out a mass shooting on the island of Utoya.

In addition to hoping to preserve an architectural work typical of the 1960s, opponents of the destruction invoke a symbolic argument: that the government buildings should remain standing even though the right-wing extremist tried to tear them down.

READ ALSO: New York's MoMA calls for Norway to save Picasso building

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