Opening Ceremony and Spatial Structure

Hanwha Culture Foundation held the opening ceremony for 'Pompidou Center Hanwha' on the 19th at the annex of the 63 Building in Yeouido, Seoul. Prominent figures including Kim Sung-hee, Director of the National Museum of Modern Art, Kim Seung-yeon, Chairman of Hanwha Group, Kim Dong-won, President, Philippe BERTHOUX, French Ambassador to Korea, and Laurent LEBOURG, Director of the Pompidou Center, attended the event. On stage, Hanwha Group executives and guests completed the final puzzle piece of a lighting installation made from a model of the building, symbolizing the dawn of a new era in culture.

Exhibition and Functional Layout

Pompidou Center Hanwha has been redeveloped across the entire annex of the 63 Building, spanning four floors with a total exhibition space of 500 pyeong. The ground floor (GF) lobby features 'The Large Horse,' a bronze sculpture by Raymond Duchamp-Villon, part of the Pompidou Center's collection. The first exhibition hall, with a ceiling height of 7 meters, hosts exhibitions centered on the Pompidou Center's collection. The second exhibition hall features a mezzanine level and will be operated as a contemporary exhibition space curated by Hanwha Culture Foundation following the opening exhibition. The fourth floor includes an outdoor rooftop area offering views of the Han River, along with a restaurant. The first floor is dedicated to educational and lecture spaces, including an auditorium, studio, and multi-station areas, with a café located along floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the outdoor garden, 'Audoirf Garden.'

Opening Exhibition and Programs

The opening exhibition, 'Cubists: Visionary Innovators,' commemorating the official opening on June 4, features 91 works by 43 leading artists of Cubism, including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Robert Delaunay, and Francis Picabia. The exhibition includes a special section titled 'Korea Focus: A Map of Dreams Toward Modern Avant-Garde,' exploring the symbolic and cultural significance of Paris in shaping modern Korean art. Twenty-one paintings by key figures in Korean art history—Kim Hwan-gi, Yu Young-guk, Park Raehyun, and Lee Soo-yeok—are also on display. In June, Professor Kim Young-na of Seoul National University and Professor Woo Jeong-ah of POSTECH will deliver special lectures on Cubism. In July, a talk show featuring Christian BRIAN, Senior Curator at the Pompidou Center, and Jo Joo-hyun, Senior Curator at Pompidou Center Hanwha, is scheduled. Programs such as guided tours, workshops, performances, and children's activities have been developed in collaboration with the Pompidou Center's local education team.

Partnership and Strategy

Pompidou Center Hanwha is an international hub established through a partnership between the French national center for modern art, the Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, and Hanwha Group. It is the third Pompidou Center in the world, following locations in Spain's Malaga and China's Shanghai West Bund. At a press conference held on the same day, Hanwha Culture Foundation stated, 'While our goal is to share high-quality modern and contemporary artworks with the public, we recognized a lack of collection resources, so we chose to begin this initiative through a partnership with the world-renowned Pompidou Center.' The initial contract spans four years, but the foundation expressed hope for continued collaboration on successful projects beyond that period. Chairman Kim Seung-yeon of Hanwha Group emphasized in his commemorative address, 'Hanwha views culture and art not merely as a 'support recipient' but as a 'core of future value.' We believe that someone must envision the unseen future and protect its potential until it becomes reality—today, that belief has taken shape in this very space.' Director Kim Sung-hee of the National Museum of Modern Art remarked, 'The opening of Pompidou Center Hanwha, timed to coincide with the 140th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations, holds special significance. We expect it to serve as a powerful bridge for cultural exchange and mutual growth between our two nations.'