The terrace of the Center Pompidou, in Paris, February 6, 2024. (AFP / STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
The Center Pompidou, in Paris, and Nike have concluded a partnership which will notably allow the sports brand to occupy spaces in the museum during the Olympic Games this summer, for activities and receptions, AFP learned on Friday from the office of the Minister of Culture.
“The Pompidou Center and Nike are signing today a major partnership to celebrate art and sport with as many people as possible this summer,” according to the cabinet, which adds that Minister Rachida Dati sees it as “a great opportunity for that cultural institutions benefit from the Olympics.
Questioned by AFP, the Center Pompidou confirmed the existence of the partnership, without giving details.
The museum of modern art, one of the most important in the world, will notably present from June, on the square in front of its entrance, the sculpture “Cycloid Piazza” by the French artist Raphaël Zarka (a structure open to skateboarders) , thanks to the support of Nike, which also sponsors many athletes.
According to the ministry, “the experiences organized by Nike will live alongside the programming (already) proposed”, “notably the event + Comics on all floors +, which will deploy in numerous spaces (…) its proposals open to a large audience.”
“+Cycloid Piazza+ is a sculpture that is both cleverly complex and openly popular, where multiple sources of interest mingle: the world of skateboarding (Olympic sport, Editor’s note) and the architecture of skateparks, geometric abstraction, but also the scientific studies of movement which have fascinated the artist for a long time,” wrote the Center Pompidou in a press release in January.
This event is part of the Cultural Olympiad, these projects which combine art and sport and are deployed throughout the territory ahead of the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11) and Paralympic Games (August 28-September 8).
In 2022, the budget of the Center (which regularly hosts private events) was 184 million euros, including 41.1 million euros in own resources and 92.3 million in state subsidies.