Centre Pompidou Paraná Opening Delayed To 2029

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The Centre Pompidou Paraná, the French institution's first outpost in the Americas, has again pushed back its opening, now targeting 2029, according to a museum spokesperson speaking to The Art Newspaper. This marks the project's second delay; it was initially slated for 2027, then rescheduled for 2028.

Construction work has not yet begun, and the schedule has also been postponed. The tender process for the project has not launched either, despite an initial expectation for bids in November. The current phase, planned for later this year, will only cover the basic design, with the company responsible for building the museum in Foz do Iguaçu to be selected at an unspecified later date.

“The project is currently working toward an opening in 2029 and is in the technical preparatory stages for the bidding process,” a Pompidou spokesperson told The Art Newspaper. The repeated timeline changes, both in Paris and Paraná, are attributed to the project's extensive scale and inherent complexity. However, the Paraná government was still officially announcing a 2028 opening as recently as June.

The delays coincide with a change in government for the state of Paraná. The project, initiated under the administration of Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior, will now transition to Sergio Moro, who was elected governor of Paraná on October 4. During his campaign, Moro, a former federal judge known for the Lava Jato investigation, pledged to continue the museum project. The Centre Pompidou spokesperson emphasized,“The goal is to ensure that Centre Pompidou Paraná is established as a state cultural policy, rather than merely an initiative tied to a specific administration.”

The museum was established by state decree in December 2024 with an investment of approximately 250m reais ($49.7m). The agreement with the Centre Pompidou spans eight years of cooperation, encompassing brand use, technical consulting, and other services. Architect Solano Benítez, who designed the museum and won the Golden Lion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, noted during a talk last week at the XX Bienal de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires that the state of Paraná was aware of potential political shifts due to elections, leading them to request rapid completion of the architectural design.“They wanted me to complete it in six months, but it took me a year,” Benítez stated.

Following his talk, Benítez informed The Art Newspaper,“The preliminary design has been approved, and everything is now being budgeted so the tender can be launched and construction can begin.” The museum is planned for a site along the road to Iguazu Falls, close to the city's airport and bordering a protected natural area. Foz do Iguaçu, situated at the confluence of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in the Triple Frontier region, draws millions of visitors annually. The museum is projected to attract around 800,000 visitors each year, offering views of Iguazu Falls, a Unesco World Heritage site since 1984, from its terrace starting in 2029, should the new schedule hold.

In related news, the Centre Pompidou's planned outpost in Jersey City, New Jersey, in the United States, was declared“dead” by the city's mayor earlier this year. The Centre Pompidou currently operates outposts in Shanghai and Málaga, with projects in Brussels (opening next month), Seoul, and Saudi Arabia still forthcoming. The main Centre Pompidou in Paris closed to the public in September 2025 for extensive renovations and is expected to reopen in 2030.

Source: The Art Newspaper

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