Paris’s Centre Pompidou has announced another five-year partnership, this time with the iconic fashion house Chanel. (Last week, the Pompidou and M+ in Hong Kong announced their plan to lend artworks and collaborate on research projects and exhibitions.) Despite being closed until 2030 while undergoing an over $500 million renovation, the Pompidou has kept busy with new collaborations and satellite museums, including those in Seoul, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Brussels.
The Pompidou and Chanel began working together in 2019, and in 2024 the luxury brand sponsored the museum’s acquisition of a cache of 21 artworks by 15 contemporary Chinese artists, among them Alice Chen, Chen Wei, Cui Jie, Hu Xioyuan, and Lu Yang. Chanel also supported the related exhibition “目 China: A New Generation of Artists.”
Chanel’s expanded investment will support the museum’s work across “access, scholarship, and the preservation of public knowledge,” according to a statement. The goal is to “ensure that its resources remain available to future generations of artists, students, thinkers, and the public.”
Yana Peel, Chanel’s president of arts, culture, and heritage, who has spearheaded Chanel’s previous collaborations with the Pompidou, referred to the museum as “a defining institution in France and a global platform for the exchange of ideas.” The partnership is meant to support “the enduring vitality of the museum.”
The Pompidou announced its intention to close for five years, starting in 20245, in the spring of 2023. At the time, its renovation budget was $283 million. The project involves upkeep on the distinctive “inside out” building designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, moving Constantin Brancusi’s former studio from its off-site location (now known as the Brancusi Pavilion) into the main museum building, and a complete rehang of the collection. The pavilion will eventually be home to the Kandinsky Library and the museum’s archives department.
