Centre Pompidou-Metz, the offshoot of Paris’s famous Pompidou Centre, has opened in France.
The 70.8m euro (£60.8m,US$89m) new centre, located in the north eastern city of Metz, is the first provincial branch of the famous art gallery.
Owned by Communauté d’Agglomération de Metz Métropole, the building was designed by Japan-based Shigeru Ban Architects (SBA) in partnership with French architect Jean de Gastines.
The centre will boast paintings, sculptures, installations, graphic arts, photography, video, sound works, film, architecture, design and more within its 5,000 sq m (107,000 sq ft) of gallery space - by artists including Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro.
The arts centre will include public areas in addition to the many exhibition areas, a creative studio for projections and performances, an auditorium, a bookshop-boutique, and a restaurant-cafeteria.
The Pompidou-Metz is the cornerstone project of an ambitious urban renewal programme of the city of Metz, spearheaded by Nicolas Michelin, architect and urban planner.
Laurent Le Bon has been appointed curator of the centre.
Around 90 per cent of the items on display are loaned from the Pompidou Centre itself.
