MoMA, Centre Pompidou and M+ Sign Unprecedented Collection-Sharing Pact

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and M+ in Hong Kong have signed a collection alliance granting each institution unprecedented access to the other two museums' holdings. The agreement, announced in a joint statement, targets increased viewership, more collaborative curation and expanded research across three continents.

The timing is deliberate. M+ marks the fifth anniversary of its physical building in Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District, and MoMA director Christophe Cherix is just one year into his tenure. The pact unites a Manhattan institution, a Paris flagship and an Asian contemporary art museum under a single access framework.

What did the museums say?

"Museums must evolve to reflect the complexity of our world," M+ Museum Director Suhanya Raffel said in a press statement on the alliance. The three signatories are Raffel, Cherix and Centre Pompidou President Laurent Le Bon.

The deal covers three practical areas: shared curatorial work, collections access and joint research. No acquisition or financial terms were disclosed.

How did the alliance come together?

Two prior bilateral agreements laid the groundwork. In early 2025, M+ and MoMA signed a memorandum of understanding establishing shared curatorial, conservation and scholarship objectives. This spring, M+ and Centre Pompidou entered a multi-year strategic partnership to "strengthen the cultural dialogue" between their continents through joint exhibitions, collections sharing and a funded fellowship.

M+ holds the Sigg collection of contemporary Chinese art, alongside thousands of other contemporary works from across Asia. Those holdings made the Hong Kong museum an attractive partner for the two Western institutions.

Why are museums pooling resources now?

The alliance follows a wave of institutional resource pooling and joint acquisitions that swelled after the COVID-19 pandemic. Museums are seeking to reduce overhead costs while navigating major deficits, and shared collection access spreads the expense of curation and scholarship across institutions.

The trend is reshaping governance as well as programming. Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a forthcoming merger with Ronald Lauder's Neue Galerie, set to commence in 2028 — a consolidation at the very top of the New York museum world.

What happens next?

The three museums have committed to collaborative curation and research without announcing a first joint exhibition or timeline. For Cherix, barely a year into his directorship, the pact signals an early international agenda; for M+, it converts two bilateral partnerships into a trilateral platform on its fifth anniversary. The first concrete output — a shared exhibition, fellowship or loan — will test whether cross-continental access can translate into public programming.