Babiš wants a Central European branch of the Centre Pompidou in Prague

Javier Pérez De La Fuente - Juan Antonio Marín Malavé, Centre Pompidou, Málaga, 2013

Prague - Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) wants to obtain a license for Prague from one of the most significant European gallery institutions, the Parisian Centre Pompidou. Today in Prague, he discussed the collaboration of this institution with the Prague National Gallery with President of Centre Pompidou Serge Lasvignes and Director of NG Jiří Fajt. "Yes, we want a Central European branch of Centre Pompidou in Prague," Babiš said to reporters after the meeting. According to him, the first step is a memorandum of cooperation that could be concluded by May.

Lasvignes today visited the Veletržní palác in Prague, which is expected to be the main seat of the gallery after the planned reconstruction. Officials from the NG guided him primarily through the collections of modern Czech art and also viewed the French collection featuring works by famous French modernists purchased by the Czech state during the First Republic.

"We are continuing with the project that was initiated during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron on October 26, 2018, as part of the celebrations of the centenary of the founding of Czechoslovakia," Babiš said today. According to him, this was when the idea of collaboration with Centre Pompidou emerged. "Centre Pompidou is today a brand, and all museums in the world aspire to collaborate and obtain that brand," Babiš said. He discussed with Serge Lasvignes last November in Paris.

According to Babiš, the collaboration project with Centre Pompidou is important for the National Gallery and for Czech culture, and its greater visibility in the world. "We want to collaborate in the long term. Prague could become, if things go well, a center and a link between the V4 countries and France," he said. He did not respond to reporters' questions about whether Fajt's position at the head of NG is strong, as there has been speculation about his continued tenure in the role.

The National Gallery, under Fajt's leadership, is already collaborating with Centre Pompidou, one of the outcomes being last year's major exhibition of works by František Kupka. The partnership now being negotiated aims to establish closer cooperation. It should enable the presentation of Parisian collections in Prague as well as the exhibition of Czech art in France. According to Fajt, the first presentation of Centre Pompidou's collections in the National Gallery will be an exhibition in the Salmovský palace in 2021, which will showcase about sixty Parisian "highlights".

"We have approached this - and it is also in line with the vision of the National Gallery - that we will not focus only on the territory of the Czech Republic, but we will strive to become a reference institution for the entire region of Central and Eastern Europe. This is actually what the French side expects from us," Fajt said.

The branch of Centre Pompidou that Babiš talks about possibly establishing in Prague has been in Metz since 2010 as Centre Pompidou-Metz, and since 2015 there is a branch in Málaga, Spain. That branch pays over a million euros a year to the French headquarters for the license of the famous brand. There is significant interest in close cooperation with Centre Pompidou around the world. During his visit to China last year, Macron announced that a branch would open in Shanghai this year. The project followed five years of negotiations.