Today in Paris, the Pompidou Center in Malaga presented the essence of the project that will open in 2015 and its first permanent exhibition: a tour of 80 works through modern and contemporary art that began and ended with the figure of Picasso.
The mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre Prados, announced that the first temporary headquarters of the Pompidou Center in Paris abroad and the only one in Spain during its existence aspires to receive around 200.000 visitors in its first year.
He announced this figure after a press conference in which he specified that the works at the headquarters of the future museum, on pier number one of the port of Malaga, which began on August 4 and were paralyzed two weeks later, can resume tomorrow, having already been surpassed. all legal obstacles.
The figure of Picasso, born in Malaga and a fundamental figure of 20th century art, the Spanish context and the fact that it is located in the southern Mediterranean, inspired what will be the museum's first major permanent exhibition.
It will propose a journey through all the disciplines of creation from the beginning of the 20th century to today, and will be entirely renewed two years later.
The agreement signed today, after the protocol adopted at the end of 2013, confirms that the installation of the Pompidou in the Andalusian city will be for five years, extendable for at least another five, but both the mayor and the president of the Center, Alain Seban, did not hide his intention that everything does not end there.
"The idea is to stay for a limited time," so from the very beginning "we have to start talking about what will happen next," said Seban, eager to turn the Pompidou in Paris into a global museum that can continue to contribute to the dynamics of Malaga.
De la Torre explained that the future Pompidou in Malaga will have an initial annual cost for the council of just under 2 million euros (2,6 million dollars), depending on the sponsorships obtained, and will entail direct and indirect income for the city that will be around 14 million euros (18,3 million dollars).
He also indicated that there is still "no concrete opening date," and denied any electoral intention, given that the idea of dedicating a cultural space in the port dates back to 2004, and the idea of turning it into the headquarters of a great international art gallery like the Pompidou emerged in 2008.
"I've always said, cautiously, that we'd like it to open sometime in 2015." Since it's an important project for the city, "the sooner the better," and preferably in the first quarter rather than the first half of the year, he added.
In 2011, since we had the "container" - a 6.000 square meter surface located under the now famous glass Cube built in the port that will be one of its most recognizable visual images - "we accelerated the issue, which is now well advanced," he added.
The project, he stressed, is part of "a strategy to serve the city," in line with the powerful cultural initiatives that have been promoted for years, "and in line with the innovative Malaga, at the forefront of technology."
The Malaga mayor said he wanted to share the economic effort that must be made with private companies interested in a project that has excellence and that will therefore have visibility and media return for them.
From today, this issue has taken on "new momentum and it is time for companies to "move forward with the corresponding implementation", so that the effort of the mayor's office is less.
Seban, for his part, stressed that "there could not have been a better choice than Malaga to launch this great project," which is also intended to be a laboratory for the "global museum" that it aspires to create.
Beyond the cultural dynamism of the city, the richness of its cultural offer and the possibilities it offers, Málaga, he added, was the possibility of going very quickly, with a very motivated and very determined team, in a context at the same time close enough to be very present.
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