NEWS
The opening of the new Bildmuseet building on Umeå Arts Campus has been planned for 18 March, but delays in construction have caused museum director Katarina Pierre to reevaluate the date. The decision has been made to reschedule the opening to May.
"The new Bildmuseet is an extraordinary venue - a fantastic building - and it is also extraordinary in regards to the high level of security," says Katarina Pierre. "The complex security and climate systems, which make it possible for us to borrow and display artwork from museums from all over the world, take time to complete and fine tune."
A museum building must maintain extremely high standards in security and indoor climate control. The facilities need a security system for the insurance policy to be valid, and also have to be easily evacuated in the event of a fire. A requirement in order to borrow artwork is a climate control system that regulates a certain level of humidity and temperature, in the summer and winter.
It was only a few days until artwork on loan was to be collected from museums around Europe, but the construction delays have caused the premises to not meet the high standards required.
"It’s a colossal and complicated project to build an art museum,"explains Katarine Pierre. "Everyone involved has done their best but unfortunately it has taken longer than expected. We are renewing our efforts and assure ourselves and the residents of Umeå that once Bildmuseet is completed, it will have a standard that allows us to offer fantastic art in our future exhibitions."
It has not been decided exactly when the doors will open for Bildmuseet, but it will coordinate with the grand opening of Umeå Arts Campus in May.
