This post was originally published on artnews.com
A new, privately funded modern and contemporary art museum called PoMo is slated to open in Norway’s third-largest city, Trondheim, next year.
PoMo will span five floors and over 43,000 square feet of Trondheim’s old, art nouveau post office building.
Its permanent collection will include works by Louise Bourgeois, Katharina Fritsch, Simone Leigh, and Philippe Parreno. The museum said in a statement that its “permanent collection aims to create a ‘new normal’ for Norwegian institutions, dedicating a minimum of 60 percent of its acquisitions budget to women artists to tackle gender inequality in museum collections at large.”
Norwegian holding company REITAN owns PoMo and will donate several works from its collection to the museum.
“PoMo has been brought to life by a team united in its vision and passion for art, and for the city of Trondheim,” Monica Reitan, the museum’s chair, said in a statement. “We are delighted to open PoMo with our first exhibition, ‘Postcards from the Future,’ [15 February-22 June 2025] exploring our historic roots in Trondheim’s former Post Office, whilst showcasing our collection of world-class modern and contemporary art alongside spectacular national and international loans. The exhibition will also be a presentation of the indicative artists that will shape PoMo and its program in the coming years.”
Architect and designer India Mahdavi, and Norwegian architect Erik Langdalen, have partnered up to design the museum. Its director, Marit Album Kvernmo, said visitor experience is a top priority. “[We are] bringing world- class modern and contemporary art to enrich the cultural life of our city and reimagining our historic building to provide an accessible and intuitive experience for our visitors,” she said in a statement. “Embracing the unique opportunity to transform our building and create a new museum collection, we are delighted to be working with both local artisans and internationally acclaimed designers to bring this vision to life.”
The renovated post office building will comprises of three stories of galleries, a basement space for events and education, a library in the eaves, and a reception room and offices on the top floor.
“I wanted this museum to feel inviting and inclusive, engaging both the local community and the international art crowd,” Mahdavi said. “It’s about reconnecting the local community with the city centre and their own history, while simultaneously offering a fresh experience that welcomes the world.”
PoMo will host two major temporary exhibitions each year alongside education programs and events, while partnering up with research programs and universities.
“Opening the doors to PoMo is a key moment for the city of Trondheim – welcoming the world to explore visionary art in our beautiful and storied city,” REITAN’s co-owner, Ole Robert Reitan, said.