The Centre Pompidou Paraná, the French institution’s future outpost in southern Brazil and its first in the Americas, has already delayed its opening twice. First scheduled for 2027 and later pushed back to 2028, it is now expected to open in 2029, a museum spokesperson tells The Art Newspaper. The construction schedule has also been delayed, and work has not yet begun. This delay is happening amid a change of government in the state of Paraná, although newly elected governor Sergio Moro promised during his campaign to complete the project.
The tender process for the project has not been launched either; originally a call for bids had been expected in November, but The Art Newspaper understands that timeline has also been pushed back. The phase originally planned for later this year will cover only the basic design, while the company that will build the museum in Foz do Iguaçu will be selected at a later stage, with no specific date yet confirmed.
“The project is currently working toward an opening in 2029 and is in the technical preparatory stages for the bidding process,” a Pompidou spokesperson tells The Art Newspaper.
The museum will now pass from the administration of Carlos Massa Ratinho Junior, under which the partnership with the Centre Pompidou was negotiated and launched, to that of Moro, who was elected governor of Paraná on 4 October. During his campaign, the former federal judge—best known for the Lava Jato investigation that led to the current Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s imprisonment before his conviction was later annulled—pledged to continue the museum project.
“The goal is to ensure that Centre Pompidou Paraná is established as a state cultural policy, rather than merely an initiative tied to a specific administration,” the Pompidou spokesperson says.
The museum was created by state decree in December 2024, with an investment of around 250m reais ($49.7m). The agreement with the Centre Pompidou covers eight years of cooperation and includes the use of the brand, technical consulting and other services.
The 2024 ceremony marking the signing of the agreement between the government of Paraná and the Centre Pompidou Courtesy Secretaria de Estado da Cultura do Paraná
Meanwhile, in both Paris and Paraná, the repeated changes to the timeline are attributed to the scale and complexity of the project. However, as recently as June this year, the Paraná government was still officially announcing a 2028 opening.
A change of government in the middle of the process likely contributed to the delays. During a talk last week as part of the XX Bienal de Arquitectura de Buenos Aires, the Paraguayan architect Solano Benítez, who designed the museum, said the state of Paraná was aware that elections could change the political circumstances and therefore wanted the architectural design finished quickly. “They wanted me to complete it in six months, but it took me a year,” he said.
“The preliminary design has been approved, and everything is now being budgeted so the tender can be launched and construction can begin,” Benítez, who won the Golden Lion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, told The Art Newspaper after his talk.
A rendering of the future Centre Pompidou Paraná, designed by Solano Benítez Courtesy Solano Benítez
The museum will be built along the road leading to Iguazu Falls, near the city’s airport and on the edge of a protected natural area. Foz do Iguaçu receives millions of visitors each year and sits at the heart of the Triple Frontier region where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. It is estimated that the museum could attract around 800,000 visitors a year. Beginning in 2029—if the new schedule holds—its terrace will offer views of Iguazu Falls, a Unesco World Heritage site since 1984.
Brazil is not the only country in the Western Hemisphere that has pursued an outpost of France’s foremost museum of modern and contemporary year. For years, plans for a Centre Pompidou outpost in the United States—specifically in Jersey City, New Jersey, located just across the Hudson River from Manhattan—had crept forward. Earlier this year, however, that project was pronounced “dead” by the mayor of Jersey City.
The Centre Pompidou boasts outposts in Shanghai and Málaga, with forthcoming projects in Brussels (which opens next month), Seoul and Saudi Arabia. The Centre Pompidou in Paris, meanwhile, closed to the public in September 2025 for an extensive renovation, and is expected to reopen in 2030.
