Saudi Arabia to contribute €50m to Pompidou renovations in Paris

Saudi Arabia will provide Paris with €50 million for the €262 million restoration of the Pompidou Centre. The huge endowment is part of a partnership deal between the two countries that will also see France reciprocate with museum development in the Middle Eastern kingdom.

As part of France and Saudi Arabia’s new 10-part bilateral agreement, the Gulf state will contribute nearly a fifth of the funds for the renovation plans announced by the Pompidou Centre early last year.

The Pompidou will be closed for construction work from 2025 to 2030. As Paris’ premiere modern and contemporary art museum puts on exhibitions off-site, workers will make the site safer and reinvent some of its features.

Renovations include the removal of asbestos and improved accessibility, while a second section of the project will see the Pompidou create a new experimental youth section and make the building more eco-friendly.

France and Saudi Arabia’s culture ministers Rachida Dati and Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud have also announced nine other cultural agreements between the two states.

In Saudi Arabia, France has promised to help develop museums including a photography museum in Riyadh tied with the Arles National School of Photography, a new museum dedicated to the Incense Road, while helping restore Saudi heritage sites and loan works of art to their museums.

Following a 2018 agreement between the two countries that saw the development of al-Ula, an ancient Saudi city, into a modern cultural hub, another project will see France aid in the establishment of a contemporary museum in the area.

A member of the French press told the Art Newspaper that this deal is: “part of a drive to promote the cultural credentials of Saudi Arabia,