The third-largest city has welcomed a brand-new private museum - PoMo, short for Post Office Modern. Its mission is to make art more accessible, challenge gender inequality in collections, and boost the local cultural scene.
A former city post office, PoMo covers five levels and 4,000 square meters. It showcases the art collection of Monica Reitan and Ole Robert Reitan, who have spent over 20 years gathering works by artists such as Simone Leigh, Louise Bourgeois, Anne Imhof, and Franz West. Ole Robert, who is also a co-owner of the Norwegian retail and finance company Reitan AS, believes that art should be accessible to everyone.
PoMO aims to "tear down some of the walls between the art world and the general public," Ole Robert said to The Art Newspaper. "Entering a museum can be a daunting experience."
The space was redesigned by Norwegian architect Erik Langdalen and his team, with the aim of creating a lively, dynamic atmosphere that blends the feel of a public living room with that of a modern art gallery.
The museum stated in a statement made in autumn that its collection "seeks to establish a 'new standard' for Norwegian institutions by allocating at least 60 percent of its acquisition budget to women artists to address gender inequality in museum collections on a broader scale".
The inaugural exhibit, Postcards from the Future (ongoing until June 22nd), delves into the history of the building as a post office, with the postcard serving as a "thematic metaphor" for the works being showcased.
The 'Postcards from the Future' exhibition draws inspiration from diverse perspectives, presenting a series of small stories, each told by a different artist, in their own unique space," the website of PoMo explains. "The artists featured in this exhibition engage with key contemporary themes, including community, identity, the significance of material culture, the natural world, and the urban environment.
Two-headed sculpture "Arch of Hysteria" (2004).
Looking forward to 2026, visitors will be able to walk through Ann Veronica Janssens’ fog room, where they'll be surrounded by artificial fog.
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