Lucien Arkas Art Center, the seventh stop on Arkas Art’s citywide art route in İzmir, has opened its doors. With a 2,500-square-meter space, the center adds a new dimension to İzmir’s contemporary art scene, hosting international exhibitions alongside educational programs, conferences, and cultural events. As part of its collaboration with Centre Pompidou, Arkas Art will present two exhibitions annually from Centre Pompidou’s collection in İzmir over the next five years.
Arkas Art has expanded its long-standing cultural and artistic initiatives in İzmir with a new addition. Located at Mistral İzmir in Bayraklı, Lucien Arkas Art Center has opened its doors with a program focused on modern and contemporary art.
The center, featuring 2,500 square meters of space, is designed not only for exhibitions but also for conferences, educational programs, screenings, and cultural gatherings. Including a foyer, a conference hall, and workshop spaces, the center has been conceived as a new cultural hub that brings together different artistic disciplines.
Following the press conference held to mark the opening, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was held. After the ceremony attended by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay and his wife Öznur Tugay, Arkas Holding Chairman Lucien Arkas, Monreve Group President Merve Arkas, French Ambassador to Türkiye Isabelle Dumont, Centre Pompidou President Laurent Le Bon, Consul General of France in Istanbul Nadia Fanton, Arkas Art Director Müjde Unustası, and Arkas Art International Exhibitions Advisor Jean Luc Maeso, members of the press toured the center.
Press members toured the display titled “Sonia & Robert Delaunay: Inventing Modern Colour,” accompanied by Müjde Unustası, Arkas Art Director and Anna Hiddleston, Curator of International Projects at Centre Pompidou.
An Art Route Expanding Across İzmir
Since 2011, Arkas Art has been building a continuous cultural route across İzmir through art centers established in different centers and international exhibitions. Extending from the city center to Urla and Alaçatı, this network brings art together with diverse audiences in İzmir through exhibitions, learning programs, and events.
As the seventh stop on this route, Lucien Arkas Art Center takes İzmir’s artistic infrastructure to a new level with its scale and programmatic approach.
A New Milestone for Art in İzmir
Lucien Arkas, Chairman of Arkas Holding, stated that they have been working for many years to strengthen İzmir’s connection with art and described the new center as an important step in this journey.
“İzmir is the city where I was born and raised. I believe art should be a part of this city’s identity—not just in its past, but in its present and future as well. Since 2011, we have been working to help İzmir grow as a city of culture and art. Today, we are proud to open Arkas Art’s seventh—and largest—art center in İzmir. We also have our businesses here, including Montiano Restaurant and Monreve Brasserie owned by my wife Merve Arkas as well as the wine store LA Mahzen. Hundreds of Arkas employees work on the 14 floors of this building.”
A Five-Year Collaboration with Centre Pompidou
Lucien Arkas Art Center will also serve as the new hub for the international collaboration between Arkas Art and Centre Pompidou.
“In our collaborations with international institutions, our foundation has always been trust and friendship. My acquaintance with Laurent Le Bon goes back to the time of the Picasso exhibition. The partnership we have established with Centre Pompidou is also a result of the trust that developed during that period. To transform the Lucien Arkas Art Center building into an art center, we were waiting for a major and valuable exhibition. Centre Pompidou, one of France’s most important museums, fulfilled that expectation. There had long been curiosity in İzmir about whether a contemporary art center would open. Thanks to our collaboration with Centre Pompidou, we have brought this center to life with some of the most significant and exceptional works of contemporary art. Our collaboration with Pompidou is not a one-off exhibition. It is a planned, long-term program. The works presented at the opening also represent the beginning of this partnership.” Arkas said.
As part of the collaboration between Arkas Art and Centre Pompidou, two exhibitions from the Pompidou collection will be presented each year at Lucien Arkas Art Center over the next five years.
Laurent Le Bon, President, Centre Pompidou said: “Lucien Arkas Art Center is an ambitious institution at once rooted in Izmir and fully engaged with the international cultural scene, a truly ideal partner in Centre Pompidou's Constellation. Arkas Sanat and Centre Pompidou have worked very fruitfully on this project, which will host our exhibitions and some of the most renowned masterpieces of our collection, and forefronts our common values: multidisciplinarity, adaptability and cultural openness. Through this wonderful relationship and collaboration with Arkas Art, we too will take our place as a star among Arkas’ “constellation” in İzmir. Our exhibition, which begins today with the display Sonia & Robert Delaunay: Inventing Modern Colour, will grow even larger in September. We are the guardians of this collection, the ones who carry it and share it. And the collection will shine here in İzmir in an extraordinary way. I would like to personally thank all the teams in Izmir and Paris who collaborated to make this project possible."
Arkas Art Director Müjde Unustası, in her speech, stated, “Our seventh art center, the Lucien Arkas Art Center, holds a very different and special place among all our art centers. This space was designed not only as an exhibition venue, but as a multifunctional art center where different disciplines, production, and thinking will coexist. This adds a new layer to Arkas Art’s multifaceted art structure. Within the scope of our international collaborations, the five-year partnership we have initiated with Centre Pompidou holds great meaning and importance for us.”
French Ambassador to Türkiye Isabelle Dumont said: “Centre Pompidou is a very valuable institution for France. Now, with the works of this extraordinary center being exhibited at the Lucien Arkas Art Center, that value has been brought to İzmir. I am very happy and grateful for this. I am proud that Türkiye and France have joined hands through the cultural collaboration between Arkas Art and Centre Pompidou.”
Arkas Art International Exhibitions Advisor Jean Luc Maeso, in his speech, said: “I feel a great honor and pride in the opening of the Lucien Arkas Art Center. I sincerely thank Mr. Lucien Arkas, Mr. Laurent Le Bon, and Ms. Müjde Unustası, as well as the dedicated teams at Arkas Art and Centre Pompidou. With this center, art lovers will be able to access the extraordinary Centre Pompidou collection—one of the world’s and Europe’s largest contemporary art collections—and explore different exhibitions for the next five years.”
Lucien Arkas Art Center Opens with Two Works from the Pompidou Collection
Lucien Arkas Art Center has opened its doors with two significant works selected from Centre Pompidou’s collection, offering art lovers a preview of the comprehensive season exhibition scheduled for September. The exhibition Sonia & Robert Delaunay: Inventing Modern Colour, curated by Anna Hiddleston, presents two works by Robert and Sonia Delaunay as representative examples of the forthcoming major selection. The Delaunays, known for their innovative approaches to color and light, are regarded as transformative figures in the history of modern art. The two works displayed at the opening not only reflect the artists’ unique language of dynamism, rhythm, and light but also convey to visitors the scale of the Pompidou collaboration and the new vision of the center’s upcoming season.
Coming Up This September: A Season Exhibition Dedicated to Color and Light
The main exhibition of the season will open to visitors in September at Lucien Arkas Art Center. Centered around the theme of color and light, this extensive exhibition will feature by numerous artists from different periods and disciplines. Curated from Centre Pompidou’s collection, the selection offers a rich perspective on the theory of color in modern art, the perceptual effects of light, and the historical evolution of abstraction.