Metz and its Pompidou Centre

Metz and its Pompidou Centre 

The first impression of the city 

The excursion with my friend coming from Slovenia got continued in Metz where we arrived in total darkness after 2 hours of bus driving from Strasbourg. There was almost nobody on the streets and the city looked empty, so we got a bit scared because of this taking in consideration the fact that we needed to walk 50 minutes to get to our accomodation. 

We've had encountered some accomodation problems

The name of the hostel we stayed at was F1 Metz Centre Devant les Ponts and we had many problems and difficulties trying to get in because of the late hour.

There was nobody at the reception and we tried calling the receptionist from an outside phone and she was either not answering the phone or hanging up on it. There was nobody to let us in and because of that we decided to call and request direct help at Booking.

They contacted the property via e-mail but they were not receiving any answer. Booking offered us the opportunity to go to another accomodation in case of not having where to sleeping.

In the end, after more then one hour a men appeared at the reception desk and got us checked in without saying to much about why he or somebody else was not doing the job well. We were too tired to ask for further explanations so we went in our room and slept until the next day. 

The hostel was really not the best, but taking in consideration how much we had paid for the room (about 10 euros each for one night stay), it was decent. 

We woke up very late because we were tired from the previous day. First thing that we did was to find a place to eat. 

We ate at a Lebanese fast food which was actually good. The food was fresh and tasty and the people serving us were polite and nice.

With the new energy that we got from our meal we could start exploring again the new city which seemed abandoned at midnight. 

Centre Pompidou

The main reason why we choose to add Metz on our travel list was linked with the many recommendations that we’ve got about The Centre Pompidou, a museum of Contemporary Art. 

We got the ticket for free because of our student status and age. (under 26 years old) 

An architectural treasure 

The construction of the museum was appearing as an architectural artwork in itself. The building had a very futuristic outlook very different from all of the other edifices surrounding it. 

The structure of the wooden roof was dominating the entire construction, being visible both on the exterior and the interior of it. 

The lift went up to the top floor of the museum where we could see better how the roof was built. 

The large wooden beams were joined together to give the building a more pleasant and clear appearance and to give it as much light as possible by placing over the structure a white semi-transparent roof. Here there was also a space like a terrace where we could stay only to admire the view of the roof. 

Retrospective of Lee Ufan 

The korean artist Lee Ufan had a retrospective exhibition presented on the last floor of the museum. The style of the painter and sculptor is quite minimalist and conceptual. 

On display there were paintings executed directly on the white walls such as "Dialogue" or on large canvas, sculptures made out of natural raw materials like feathers, stones, metal plates, wadding (cotton).

Bringing those elements together, Lee Ufan had created various situations which engaged us in a deeper observation about the world.

He had developed relationships between opacity and transparency, solidity and fragility, nature and industry. For example, the painted form on the wall created an impression of a fleeting moment in time and space which could vanish from one instant to the next. 

An exhibition about the pure color and form

On the ground floor we saw artworks belonging to Henri Matisse, who had been one of the most known artists of the 20th century. His paintings were very colorful, joyful, but clear and simple at the same time. 

Indeed, the whole exhibition here seemed to have been created around the subject of color and shape. 

On one side of the floor there was arranged a large frame filled with blue pigment, which made us think of the shape of a swimming pool.

This situation was accompanied by a wall painted entirely in green on which were exposed or supported several different colored and sized canvases, some of which were facing the wall and not the viewer. 

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