Globally significant and first-of-their-kind art sites are making their debut across the globe this year, from France’s first underwater museum to a contemporary arts hub in Madagascar.
From 23 January 2021, the art collection of French collector Francois Pinault will take over the Bourse de Commerce, or Stock Exchange, at the heart of Paris. The historic building this new exhibition space dedicated to the Pinault Collection lies within has been fully restored and transformed into a museum by the internationally acclaimed Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The museum includes 3,000sqm of contemporary art exhibition space and an auditorium for screenings, lectures, conferences and concerts. The French chef Michel Bras is to take charge of the museum’s restaurant, which will be named La Halle aux Grains in reference to the building’s past as a grain exchange. This new venue adds to the Pinault Collection’s network of permanent exhibition sites, which includes Palazzo Grassi, the Teatrino and the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
The ANOTHER LOVE installation by artist duo, mentalKLINIK, at Hakanto Contemporary.
Hakanto Contemporary
Hakanto Contemporary, Madagascar
Mid-2021 will see the international debut of the independent, non-profit contemporary art centre, Hakanto Contemporary, in Madagascar. Located in the Ankadimbahoaka district, south of the island nation’s capital Antananarivo, this 300sqm space under the artistic direction of Joël Andrianomearisoa aims to add to the dialogues between local and international art scenes while highlighting the distinct qualities of Malagasy culture — the gallery’s name, Hakanto, is taken from the Malagasy word for ‘aesthetic’. The inaugural exhibition NY FITIAVANAY / OUR LOVE / NOTRE AMOUR takes its title from the country’s national anthem and delves into concepts of nationalism as well as politics, dependence, independence and interdependence. For this exhibition, 26 Malagasy artists have been selected to represent Madagascar’s Independence Day, which falls on June 26 and marked its 60th year in 2020.
GES-2 sees the transformation of a listed building in the Red October District of Moscow.
Taking over a disused power station, which was originally built in 1907, the creation of GES-2 sees the transformation of a listed building through a renovation led by architectural practice Renzi Piano Building Workshop. Owned by the art foundation V-A-C, this cultural site is slated to become a major new contemporary arts hub when it opens in the first half of 2021, combining the history of the site with ambitious architectural development and the creative energy of the Red October District in Moscow. Altogether spanning around 20,000sqm, GES-2 will house several galleries, an indoor amphitheater, a glass-fronted playhouse, library, learning center and art residency area, along with facilities such as a café, restaurant and shop. A pier will eventually offer visitors arriving by boat access at the front of the building on the Bolotnaya Embankment.
The soon-to-open GES-2 arts site in Moscow.
V-A-C
Musée Subaquatique de Marseille, France
A group of art lovers in Marseilles came together to bring to life Marseille Underwater Museum, the first cultural site of its kind in France. The underwater site, which is located within Anse des Catalans bay, consists of a series of submerged sculptures. The museum plans to officially launch in spring 2021 with 45 art pieces. Fifteen of these artworks will be by the prominent underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor whose previous work was the inspiration for the site. This underwater museum will simultaneously shine a light on art, marine biology and environmental protection. Individual and group guided tours will be available to book with options for snorkelling, scuba diving and free-diving.
Tradition meets modernity at the Humboldt Forum.
Stefan Falk
Humboldt Forum, Germany
Having partially launched at the end of 2020, Berlin’s newly developed Humboldt Forum is planning to begin normal operations in spring 2021 with further exhibits opening in the summer. Located in the cultural and historical heart of Berlin, this building combines the reconstructed Baroque structure of the Berlin Palace with modern architecture. The Italian architect Franco Stella, who was tasked with creating a link between modernity and tradition, led this transformation. The space now encompasses courtyards, a large square and newly designed Palace Terraces with a grove of trees and 13,000 plants from Eurasia, South and North America. Visitors are met at the entrance with a 33-meter-high reconstructed triumphal arch and a high-ceilinged foyer, which leads to the museum’s exhibition and event spaces.
The new spring 2021 opening Munch Museum in Oslo.
Guttorm Stilen Johansen
Munch Museum, Norway
The new Munch Museum, which houses the largest collection of Edvard Munch artworks in the world, is set to open in its newly constructed home in spring 2021. The Spanish architecture firm estudio Herreros designed the striking building on Oslo’s waterfront with a translucent perforated aluminium façade and as a part of the FutureBuilt collaboration aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. On completion, the museum will house 11 exhibition halls across seven floors, giving unparalleled insight into the work and life of the artist considered a pioneer of expressionism who created the iconic painting The Scream. In addition to its permanent and temporary displays, the museum will host cultural events.
M+ Museum, Hong Kong
The new M+ cultural site coming to Hong Kong is now planned for debut in the fall of 2021. This museum of visual culture is a part of the West Kowloon Cultural District and the permanent home of the M+ organisation who are already behind exhibitions, talks, workshops and screenings across the city. The site will be dedicated to art, design, architecture and moving image with a focus on Hong Kong visual culture from the 20th and 21st centuries. Once complete, this museum promises to be one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture across the world. Designed by the architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, the site will comprise a lecture theatre, learning hub, three cinemas and performance space in addition to 17,000sqm of exhibition space. Visitor facilities are to include a café, shop and public roof terrace with views over Hong Kong.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
