Major new art museum announced for Norway’s Trondheim

Next year, Trondheim will welcome PoMo: a groundbreaking modern and contemporary art museum, housed in a renovated art nouveau post office building.

PoMo hopes to redefine the art landscape in the region, particularly with regard to gender representation. In a statement, the museum said its collection “aims to create a ‘new normal’ for Norwegian institutions, dedicating a minimum of 60 percent of its acquisitions budget to women artists to tackle gender inequality in museum collections at large”.

The museum’s permanent collection promises an impressive array of works by renowned artists such as French-American artist Louise Bourgeois, German sculptor Katharina Fritsch, American artist Simone Leigh, and French artist Philippe Parreno, while PoMo will also host two major temporary exhibitions each year alongside educational programmes and events.

Spanning five floors and over 43,000 square feet (4,000 square metres), the revitalised post office building – a collaborative effort between renowned designer India Mahdavi and Norwegian architect Erik Langdalen – will feature three floors of galleries, a basement dedicated to events and educational initiatives, a library nestled in the eaves, and a top floor that will house reception areas and offices.

“I wanted this museum to feel inviting and inclusive, engaging both the local community and the international art crowd,” Mahdavi said. “It’s about reconnecting the local community with the city centre and their own history, while simultaneously offering a fresh experience that welcomes the world.”

For the museum’s director, Marit Album Kvernmo, an inclusive visitor experience is also top priority. “[We are] bringing world- class modern and contemporary art to enrich the cultural life of our city and reimagining our historic building to provide an accessible and intuitive experience for our visitors,” she said in a statement.

PoMo will open with its first exhibition ‘Postcards from the Future’ on 15 February next year, delving into the museum’s roots in Trondheim’s former Post Office, whilst spotlighting pieces from its own collection alongside high-profile national and international loans.

‘Postcards from the Future’ will run from 15 February – 22 June 2025 at PoMo in Trondheim.