Paul Frèches is the project manager for the new Centre Pompidou in Shanghai, which opened in November 2019. The Pompidou’s site in China is home to around 100 loaned artworks and is the result of an agreement with the West Bund Museum. The Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum project includes exclusive exhibitions in resonance with the local cultural context, a cultural programme, and projects and exhibitions by Chinese artists in the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
According to the Pompidou, the Shanghai project is the most significant development for cultural exchange and cooperation between China and France to date. As Frèches served as a diplomat with the French embassy in Shanghai for five years between 2014 and 2019, he is therefore familiar with the Chinese cultural environment. He has built many cross-cultural projects between France and China. Frèches graduated from the HEC business school in Paris and previously managed a private gallery of contemporary art where he produced exhibitions for public and private organisations. Additionally, he has supported 10 artists on the international art market.