As part of a bilateral deal between France and Saudi Arabia, the two countries will contribute to each other’s major culture projects over the next decade.
Saudi Arabia will provide Paris with €50 million for the €262 million restoration of the Pompidou Centre. The huge endowment is part of a partnership deal between the two countries that will also see France reciprocate with museum development in the Middle Eastern kingdom.
As part of France and Saudi Arabia’s new 10-part bilateral agreement, the Gulf state will contribute nearly a fifth of the funds for the renovation plans announced by the Pompidou Centre early last year.
The Pompidou will be closed for construction work from 2025 to 2030. As Paris’ premiere modern and contemporary art museum puts on exhibitions off-site, workers will make the site safer and reinvent some of its features.
Renovations include the removal of asbestos and improved accessibility, while a second section of the project will see the Pompidou create a new experimental youth section and make the building more eco-friendly.
France and Saudi Arabia’s culture ministers Rachida Dati and Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud have also announced nine other cultural agreements between the two states.
In Saudi Arabia, France has promised to help develop museums including a photography museum in Riyadh tied with the Arles National School of Photography, a new museum dedicated to the Incense Road, while helping restore Saudi heritage sites and loan works of art to their museums.
Following a 2018 agreement between the two countries that saw the development of al-Ula, an ancient Saudi city, into a modern cultural hub, another project will see France aid in the establishment of a contemporary museum in the area.
A member of the French press told the Art Newspaper that this deal is: “part of a drive to promote the cultural credentials of Saudi Arabia, helping to diversify and deliver a more ‘open’ image of the country.”
The Pompidou announcement comes hot on the heels of Saudi Arabia’s winning bid to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup tournament.
Football commentators have criticised the lack of alternative bids for the 2034 tournament, noting that Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a campaign of “sportwashing” to improve the nation’s cultural soft power and divert attention from its oil industry and human rights record.
Saudi Arabia is still the leading country in annual executions. A December report by the UN found that the Gulf state had put 304 people to death in 2024, the highest number in the country since 1990.
The bilateral deal with France is likely to be read as a similar attempt through culture. It is part of Saudi Vision 2030, a government programme launched in 2016 by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to diversify the country’s economy from oil production, which contributes to nearly half of its GDP.
