'Long live art!': Pompidou Centre to stay put in Malaga for another ten years

We were already on the countdown. Less than a year - eight months to be exact - before the end of the current agreement between the Pompidou Centre and the city of Malaga to retain this contemporary art gallery in this city of museums. A renewal that the city council and the French institution have handled so discreetly that the press conference to present the new agreement had been called under the general heading of "cultural management". No further details were given so as not to give away any clues. The mayor, Francisco de la Torre, appeared alone on Thursday in the Salón de los Espejos and did not take long to reveal the true objective of this press call: confirming that the Pompidou will remain in Malaga for another decade.

This announcement clears the way for the French cultural institution to continue its run in Malaga. This is despite, when the first agreement was signed, the Pompidou directors stressed that the relationship between both parties was limited to a decade - five years, plus another possible five years of extension.

In contrast, Malaga's mayor was always confident that the relationship would be extended beyond this initial time limit, as it has finally been. The excellence of the collections, the more than one million visitors logged in the nine years so far at the Muelle Uno site and the city's status as the first international Pompidou Centre - after which came the additional centre in Shanghai (2019) plus the one in Brussels (planned for 2025) - were the arguments put forward at the press conference upon announcing the extension of this prestigious, Franco-Spanish, cultural alliance.

Malaga's continuity has also coincided with the cancellation just a few days ago of the French art gallery's project in New Jersey, where the US authorities have finally backed out due to lack of funding after announcing its construction. Turning to the details, the business terms agreed between Malaga council and the Pompidou involves an annual fee of 2.7m euros for the use of the Pompidou brand and the management of its collections during the first five years of the new agreement (2025-2029), which will rise due to "inflation", the mayor has said, to 3.1 million per year in the second half (2030-2034).

These amounts are tax-free, as IVA (Spain's sales tax) is exempt in these operations between institutions from different European countries, municipal sources explained to SUR. The overall figure for the presence of the art gallery under the iconic cube that is Muelle Uno will therefore be 29 million euros for the next ten years. The fees update has also been applied to the current renewal, with a 30% increase compared to the first decade of the agreement's life (2015-2024). Back then some 2.07 million euros were paid annually for the same benefits of using the Pompidou name and receiving collections on loan from Pompidou's HQ in Paris. After the summer Olympics in Paris the Centre Pompidou there is scheduled to close for refurbishment, so Pompidou Malaga and those elsewhere will be taking on keeping the brand alive.

"I have always maintained that if the Pompidou Centre Málaga was a success and both parties were satisfied, the continuity would be indefinite", said a very pleased Francisco de la Torre at the announcement of the extension of the contract. He underlined the "willingness" of his French partners to reach agreement and, along these lines, showed his optimism by affirming that it could be further renewed in the future when the next ten years are almost up. However, for anyone thinking this mayor would still be around to oversee negotiations, he hinted that this would not be his responsibility, but that of "those in charge of the mayor's office at the time."

As for the artistic stipulations, the renewal provides for six semi-permanent exhibitions to be held in the main rooms of the Pompidou Centre Malaga over the next decade, meaning that each collection will remain for just under two years under the emblematic cube at the port, with the next succeeding it. In addition, the contract includes the organisation of two temporary exhibitions per year, a joint curatorship as part of the Hors Pistes series of art festivals and exhibitions and a workshop for the whole family every year.

The mayor's delight concerning what a good understanding had been achieved in reaching this agreement was evident at the press conference, especially if we take into account the Pompidou's initial reservations about remaining in Malaga after the first decade. However, the staging of the press meeting contrasted with the good news announcement, with Francisco de la Torre appearing alone in the hall of mirrors without the presence of any authority from the Centre Pompidou Paris. This absence of dignitaries contrasts starkly with both the initial agreement made in Paris and the renewal of the agreement in Malaga in 2018 when the president of the French cultural institution was present. Not only that, but even the director of the Pompidou Centre Malaga himself, José María Luna, was absent. The mayor made apologies on his behalf as he was in Thessaloniki (Greece) opening a Picasso exhibition curated by Malaga's Birthplace of Picasso Museum (Casa Natal).

Municipal sources told SUR that this announcement was made before the agreement was made public at the council meeting on Friday and that the leaders of the French cultural centre will soon visit Malaga for the institutional signing of the new contract. In addition, the president of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Laurent Le Bon, sent a video which was broadcast at the press conference in which he apologised for "not being able to be with you" and acknowledged the productive dialogue he had with the city's municipal partners.

"The city of Malaga was the first to place its trust in us for a magnificent international undertaking", said Le Bon about the pioneering museum on Muelle Uno, which he did not hesitate to describe as "a success from day one". "It is therefore an immense joy to celebrate the extension of the sponsorship for another ten years", Le Bon said, closing with a "long live Malaga, long live the Pompidou Centre, long live art!"