In Montpellier, a new entity aims to reshuffle the cards of contemporary art on a national and global scale, starting with the renovation of a private mansion to host new collections.
A stone's throw from the railway station, the MoCo (short for Montpellier Contemporain) is opening the "Hôtel des Collections", the linchpin of a tripartite structure housed in an 18 th -century building, the Hôtel Montcalm. "The project arose from a political commitment," says the mayor, Philippe Saurel, also chairman of Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole. "Before I was elected, I had the feeling there was very little or no place for contemporary art in the city's cultural offering. In 2014, when I was elected mayor, I fulfilled my promise to create a contemporary art centre." But the new town councillor's plan clashed with a projected Museum of the History of France in Algeria, initially planned and supported by his predecessor, Georges Frêche. However, overlong timeframes and alteration work helped to shift this project towards the MoCo, integrating two already active institutions: the École Supérieure des Beaux-arts art school and La Panacée, a contemporary art centre now dedicated to emerging…
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