Centre Pompidou’s First “Mutations/Création” Exhibition Heading Toward the Future

Text and photos by Chen Chi-Hsiang. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of Centre Pompidou, celebrated quietly without any major special exhibitions. At forty, Centre Pompidou has entered middle age; many activities appear modest, suggesting a sense of overstretch amid budget cuts and funding shortages. The Musée national d’art moderne’s collection was largely lent to regional museums this year (such as the Monnaie de Paris’s “Works on the Ground”). On the fourth floor, the contemporary art collection exhibition features old wine in new bottles—fragmented 1970s performance and conceptual art—while young contemporary works have vanished. A new thematic exhibition titled “Anarcheologie” (derived from French philosopher Michel Foucault) was opened in the gallery, leaving the institution’s curatorial intent unclear.

Paris is naturally a place where creativity ferments; value is created by one’s own creativity. Amid national debt pressures and cultural budget constraints during this fortieth anniversary, museums adapt out of necessity. Forty-year-old Centre Pompidou continues to embody a spirit of bridging past and future. In this era of rapid technological change and cross-disciplinary fusion, it opens new fields spanning art, innovation, and science, pioneering a new era for contemporary art. From this year onward, Centre Pompidou has initiated two annual events with foresight: first, “Mutations/Création,” addressing current advanced digital technology development to welcome the future; second, “Move,” expanding current visual arts presentations to witness possibilities across (happenings, performance, dance, theater, video, and film).

The first edition of “Mutations/Création” focuses on today’s rapidly evolving 3D digital technology, challenging traditional concepts of object manufacturing and transforming architecture, design, and artistic creation. It opens a new interdisciplinary field between art, innovation, and science. “Mutations/Création” includes the “Printed World” special exhibition featuring design, architecture, music, and art, as well as a solo exhibition by British avant-garde designer Ross Lovegrove titled “Convergence,” depicting his digitally mutated world.