Postmodernism defies definition, its most consistent qualities being the embrace of complexity, high and popular culture. PoMo, Trondheim’s new museum of modern and contemporary art, which has just opened, seeks to walk this line through its programming and design, welcoming a range of perspectives and experiences.
Occupying an Art Nouveau post office built in 1911 by the Norwegian architect Karl Norum, the museum has been developed by India Mahdavi, in partnership with architect Erik Langdalen. It has three storeys of galleries, with a library and research area, and flexible spaces for events and workshops dotted around the museum. Mahdavi, who is known for her characterful work, with projects including the millennial-pink iteration of London’s Sketch restaurant and the Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel, was set on embracing inbetween spaces. The eaves of the building, the basement and the welcome area are animated with bold colours and forms, inspired by Norwegian folk art and Trondheim’s architectural history. ‘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,’ Mahdavi says.
Langdalen’s restoration weaves together the distinctive original architecture of the building with new additions and developments in its relationship to technology. Acting almost as a thematic bridge between Art Nouveau sensibilities, the Modernist rationale that followed and Postmodern expression, PoMo is intended as an inclusive and accessible setting for regular museum-goers, families and first-time visitors alike. Its permanent collection has been established by Monica and Ole Robert Reitan, whose retail company, Reitan, initiated the project, ‘inspired by values of diversity, originality and internationality’. The museum is dedicating a minimum of 60 per cent of its acquisitions budget to women artists, seeking to establish a ‘new normal’ for Norwegian institutions, and already boasts works by Louise Bourgeois, Anne Imhof and Simone Leigh.
PoMo will show pieces from the collection in permanent presentations, as well as hosting two temporary exhibitions per year, celebrating particular artists solo, or else bringing together thematic surveys. It is opening with Postcards from the Future, which draws upon the building’s legacy as a hub for communication, correspondence and community, and showcases works from the collection alongside major international loans. It employs the postcard as a metaphor, and a vessel for public and private storytelling, with pieces by artists including Fischli & Weiss, Isa Genzken, Irving Penn, Catherine Opie and Andy Warhol.
PoMo’s brick and forest-green façade is framed by an enormous Ugo Rondinone ‘rainbow’ that reads ‘Our Magic Hour’ in playful, curvaceous letterforms, with its shadow appearing as if printed on to the roof tiles. Rainbows are a regular motif in the artist’s practice, which he describes as ‘a bridge between everyone and everything’. At PoMo, the rallying cry for ‘our magic hour’ reaches out over the city.
PoMo, 7 Dronningens Gate, 7011 Trondheim, Norway. Pomo.no
A version of this article appears in the March 2025 issue of ‘The World of Interiors’. Never miss an issue by subscribing
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