On September 22, the Centre Pompidou in Paris closed for a five-year renovation, marking the occasion with a daytime fireworks display titled “The Last Carnival” by Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Organized with White Cube gallery and set during Art Basel Paris, the three-act gunpowder spectacle—The Banquet, The Dawn of AI, and The Last Carnival—was conceived using Cai’s custom AI model, cAI™, and turned the museum’s façade into a monumental painting.
The event matters because it signals the Pompidou’s forward-looking vision during its temporary closure, while also highlighting Cai Guo-Qiang’s continued prominence and controversy in the art world. His work, celebrated for its pyrotechnic mastery, has recently drawn criticism over safety and cultural sensitivity issues, including a 2024 performance in Los Angeles that alarmed residents and a Tibet exhibition that sparked online backlash. The display thus encapsulates both the celebratory and contentious dimensions of contemporary public art.