Weekly arts agenda: Centre Pompidou-Metz opening, Biennale of Sydney

During the week of May 10 the Centre Pompidou-Metz in France will open its doors to the public for the first time. The contemporary arts institute will celebrate its opening with a host of special events and free entry. In Australia, the city of Sydney will come to life with the country's biggest contemporary arts festival, the Biennale of Sydney.

Centre Pompidou-Metz opening
May 12-16
Centre Pompidou-Metz
Metz, France

To celebrate the opening of the Pompidou's satellite contemporary arts center, the Centre Pompidou-Metz is opening to the public from May 12 to 16 with a special program of events. The cultural institution's "Opening Days" will be free for the public, encouraging them to come and visit the spectacular architecture, see the opening exhibit "Masterpieces?" and to participate in some of the festivities.
http://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/site/?-inaugural-exhibition-

FutureEverything
May 12-15
Manchester, England

After 15 years running as the Futuresonic festival, the event has been re-branded as the FutureEverything festival and is celebrating a full program that includes "world premieres of astonishing artworks, an explosive city-wide music program, and visionary thinkers from around the world across four festival strands - Art, Music, Ideas and Showcase." FutureEverything encompasses a conference, the Fab Lab Art Challenge, a city debate that will explore the future of Manchester, an awards ceremony and a host of satellite events and workshops that help people to creatively explore ideas that will enrich our future lives. In 2009 the festival drew 75,000 visitors.
http://www.futureeverything.org/

Biennale of Sydney
May 12-August 1
Various indoors and outdoors venues across Sydney
Sydney, Australia

The Biennale of Sydney is Australia's largest and most respected contemporary visual arts event. In 2008 it welcomed more than 436,000 visitors and has since been named the Australian event of the year. The 17th edition of the Biennale continues a 37-year-old legacy of celebrating Australia's cultural and ethnic diversity through the exhibition of thought-inspiring and emotive contemporary art. The event will highlight recent and new works created by Australian artists alongside leading international artists in iconic locations across the city. The Biennale of Sydney is free and open to the public.
http://www.bos17.com/

Nuit des Musées, International Museum Day
May 15- 18
Worldwide

During the week of May 15, museums and art institutions will be hosting various events in celebration of Nuit des Musées (Long Night of Museums), and International Museum Day across the globe. The Long Night of Museums will be held on May 15 this year. The event originated as a trend in Berlin in 1997 and has since spread throughout Europe, with more than 120 cities now participating. International Museum Day is typically held each year around May 18 in galleries across the world. Generally, museums will open their doors to the public for free on these days (and nights) and extend their opening hours late into the night.
http://nuitdesmusees.culture.fr/index.php?l=FRA&fl=GBR
http://icom.museum/imd.html

Vatican Splendors: A Journey through Faith and Art
May 15
Missouri History Museum
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Vatican Splendors: A Journey through Faith and Art is one of the largest collections of Vatican art, documents and historically significant objects to ever tour North America. The collection of around 170 rare works (many of which have never left the Vatican before) will travel to three US cities. The collection includes mosaics, frescoes, sculptures, embroidered silk vestments, objects from the Papal Mass, uniforms from the Papal Swiss Gard, historical maps, and paintings by Renaissance masters. The exhibition will be on show at the Missouri History Museum from May 15 for a limited engagement before travelling to two other yet-to-be-disclosed US museums.
http://www.vaticansplendors.com/

Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers
May 20-September 12
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Washington, DC, USA

A major retrospective of works by influential French artist Yves Klein will go on show at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden this May. The museum will be adorned with Klein's distinctive works in ultramarine "Klein Blue", as well as his fire paintings, sponge reliefs, "air architecture" projects, Cosmogonies, planetary reliefs and many works that have rarely been seen in public. The 200 works on show provide an insight into the short but intense career of one of the 20th century's most influential artists.
http://www.hirshhorn.org/exhibitions/view.asp?key=21&subkey=252

ART HK 10 - Hong Kong International Art Fair
May 27-30
Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
Hong Kong

ART HK is still in its infancy, with just two editions under its belt but the art fair has already cut out its mark, drawing almost 50,000 visitors since its inception. It is quickly becoming one of the leading contemporary arts fair in Asia with an interesting mix of international collectors, curators and museum directors travelling to the event. In 2010 ART HK will be host to more than 140 galleries from almost 30 countries. A strong lineup of Asian artists will complement a leading mix of high-calibre international galleries from London's White Cube to Australia's Mori Gallery to Hong Kong's Gagosian Gallery.
http://www.hongkongartfair.com/

Affordable Art Fair
May 27-30
Halle Freyssinet
Paris, France

The AAF (Affordable Art Fair) is an international event designed to bring contemporary art to art lovers and collectors at affordable prices. Launched in London in 1999, the fair is now held twice a year in London and annually in Bristol, Amsterdam, Paris and New York. There are also affiliate Fairs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brussels, and Singapore. For the third time, the fair will visit Paris and showcase a selection of art priced from between €100 to €5000.
http://www.affordableartfair.fr

PHotoEspaña
June 9 - July 25
Madrid, Spain

PHotoEspaña is a major international annual photography and visual arts festival that attracts more than 650,000 visitors per year. In 2010, 70 up-and-coming photographers will be selected and offered the opportunity to showcase their work to curators, gallery owners and editors as part of the 2010 Descubrimientos (discoveries) PHE portfolio review program.
http://www.phe.es/festival/

Art Basel
June 16 - 20
Basel, Switzerland

Art Basel is heralded as the world's premier international art show for modern and contemporary art. Works from more than 2,500 artists - from the great masters of modern art to fresh-faced contemporaries creating the trends of tomorrow - will be shown at the 41st edition of Art Basel. In 2009 around 61,000 people attended the "favorite rendezvous of the global art world." Basel turns into an international art hub during the week of June 14, with a huge array of art fairs taking place in the city including the Hot Art Fair Basel, VOLTAshow, Design Miami/Basel, LISTE, PrintBasel, Verge Art Fair Basel, and Red Dot Basel.
http://www.artbasel.com