仏パリのポンピドーセンター、休館控えいったん見納め

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】仏パリの総合文化施設、ポンピドーセンターが５年間の改修工事のため休館になるのを前に、有名な美術コレクションを一目見ておこうと、国内外から多くのファンが訪れた。（写真は、仏パリのポンピドーセンターを散策する来場者）
　先週末、来場者はサルバドール・ダリやアンリ・マティスの絵画、マルセル・デュシャンの彫刻などさまざまな常設品を写真に収めていた。
　４階と５階に展示されている２０００点のコレクションは、１０日から撤去が始まる。大規模な改修が行われる間は、フランス国内外の博物館に一時的に収蔵される予定だ。
　建物の外にカラフルなパイプや換気設備が露出していることで知られるポンピドーセンターは、４８年前に建設された。
　大規模な図書館や音楽研究所を併設する同センターは、今年９月２２日に完全閉鎖される。改修工事には、アスベスト除去作業も含まれ、費用は２億６２００万ユーロ（約４２０億円）の見込み。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/11-16:48）

Tourists and French visitors alike filled Paris's landmark Pompidou museum on the weekend to catch a last glimpse of its prestigious art collection ahead of a five-year closure for a major renovation.
Five years -- it's long! exclaimed one guide, Elisa Hervelin, as people around her took photos of many of the museum's permanent works, among them paintings by Salvador Dali and Henri Matisse and sculptures by Marcel Duchamp.
The 2,000-piece collection, on display on the fourth and fifth floors on the 48-year-old multicultural centre, are to start being taken away from Monday.
The artworks are to be given temporary homes in museums across France and in other countries while the lengthy overhaul of the building -- famously designed with its pipes and ventilation shafts colourfully adorning its facade -- is carried out.
The full closure of the Pompidou Centre -- which also comprises a vast library and a music research unit -- will occur on September 22 this year. The 262-million-euro ($284 million) renovations include removing asbestos from the structure.
With free entrance for its last weekend, visitors made the most of a last swing through the galleries, taking in the art as well as workshops, performances and DJ sets put on for the occasion.
Some were regulars to the museum, while others were seeing its collection in person for the first time.
Alyssa, an 11-year-old French girl taking it all in with her 62-year-old grandfather, said she wanted to see for real the abstract paintings of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, which she had been shown in her school's art class.
Paula Goulart, a 25-year-old Brazilian, admitted she was there mainly for the spectacular view of the Paris skyline from the centre's upper storeys.
Her Portuguese friend Luisa Fraga, though, was a frequent visitor to the museum who wanted to enjoy as much as possible the artworks before they are no longer here.
A Chinese visitor, Yujie Zou, had made the Pompidou Centre a key stop on a trip through Europe.
I love Matisse. It was the first painter I studied at school, she said.
- 3.2 million visitors -
With 3.2 million visitors last year, the Pompidou Centre is one of the most popular museums in Paris, ranking behind the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay in terms of attendance.
Opened in 1977, it is named after Georges Pompidou, France's president between 1969 and 1974.
The renovation work will run through to 2030.
I'm sad, said Hervelin, the guide who has been taking visitors through the museum for the past 14 years and on Saturday was giving one of her last tours before the hiatus.
Putting the artworks elsewhere... There will never be collections in their current form, the art historian lamented.
She added that it would be the public -- curious and open -- I will miss the most.
Amelie Bernard, a 21-year-old art student, shared the sense of impending loss.
For two years now I've been coming here around twice a month. It's been great for me. I've been able to develop an eye for contemporary art and broaden my knowledge for my studies, she said.
I think I made the most of it -- but, even so, it's a bit of a shame, she said, before adding optimistically: It will force me to go see other museums -- I really need that!