Picasso and Giacometti Museum to Open in Beijing in 2020

A new museum dedicated to Pablo Picasso and Alberto Giacometti will open in Beijing in 2020, marking the first collaboration between a national museum and a private foundation for such a project. The Musée National Picasso in Paris and the Fondation Giacometti have partnered with Sevenstar, a Beijing-based group that manages the 798CubeProject space designed by Zhu Pei in the 798 Art District. A definitive contract was signed on November 5, 2019, in the presence of French Culture Minister Franck Riester. The two European institutions will manage the museum for the first five years (2020–2025), after which management may be extended or handed over to a Chinese entity. The museum will host up to four exhibitions per year, with the inaugural show dedicated to both artists. This initiative follows growing European cultural interest in China, exemplified by recent exhibitions such as the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo's show at the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai (spring 2018), the Centre Pompidou and Fondation Cartier opening satellite spaces in Shanghai, and a major Picasso exhibition at UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing (ending September 2019) featuring 106 works from the Musée National Picasso.