The Centre Pompidou has signed a “five-year partnership” with Brazil for the opening of its first outpost in South America. Due to launch in November 2027, the museum will be located near Iguaçu falls, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Discussions around the creation of the new museum in the city of Foz do Iguaçu, which is situated on the border with Argentina and Paraguay, began in 2020.
Two million tourists visit the site annually, with the state of Paraná now hoping to double this figure, said Marc Pottier, the coordinator of the project, on Radio France. The framework contract was signed in 2022 and the Paraguayan architect Solano Benitez (winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016) was chosen in 2024 to design the new 10,000 sq. m. building. The construction budget is estimated at Reals200m ($36m).
In a statement, the French culture ministry described the centre will host exhibitions, live performances, festivals, films screenings, lectures and artist residencies, centred on the cultures of the three countries. The announcement comes as France launches its “cultural season” dedicated to exchanges with Brazil. No details have yet been revealed on the financial deal with the Parisian centre.
The Pompidou’s chairman, Laurent Le Bon, has been driving a campaign to spread the centre’s presence around the world, partly to cover the pressing renovation costs of its home base in Paris.
A spokesperson for the Pompidou tells The Art Newspaper that the revenue from the international outposts amounted to €19.3m in 2024 and could reach between €25m to €30m in the coming years as new sites are opened.
The Pompidou has signed agreements to renew partnerships with Malaga until 2035 and with Shanghai until 2029. Museums are also planned for Seoul in May 2026, in Brussels in November 2026, and in Jersey City—where the project is being downsized in the wake of strong opposition—in 2030.
The Parisian museum is now almost fully closed for the next five years for major restoration and maintenance works. The refit of the nearly 50-year-old building is estimated to cost between €262m and €358m, which will be covered by the state. But Laurent Le Bon is struggling to find the supplementary €180m needed for the interior redesign of the art and culture galleries. Saudi Arabia has pledged to contribute up to €50m towards the renovation as part of a bilateral ten-agreement package between France and the kingdom.
