Graphic impression of the unusual lighting within the new gallery. Courtesy MIMA

New York has MOMA, now north-east England is about to give MIMA to the world.

MIMA, the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, has been in the making for more than two years, and is set to become one of the UK’s most important centres for modern art

The brand new centre for contemporary art in the North East opens on January 27 2007 opposite Middlesbrough Town Hall. The £19.2million gallery will house a permanent collection of internationally significant artworks in a building designed by Dutch architects Erick van Egeraat.

The opening exhibition, entitled Draw, matches works by some of the world’s great modernists with those of contemporary artists – Pablo Picasso is paired with Chantal Joffe, Henri Matisse with Chris Ofili, and Marcel Duchamp with Ceal Floyer. The idea behind the show is to highlight the legacy of drawing in modern art.

Draw is a fitting opener for MIMA, highlighting its commitment to both modern and contemporary art, and tying in the theme of drawing, which will be an ongoing concern inherited from the Cleveland International Drawing Biennale (1973-1996).

MIMA and the new public square in front of it. Courtesy MIMA

“MIMA is a gallery that will showcase internationally significant art here in north east England, and we wanted our opening exhibition to signal our intent and ambition,” explained Godfrey Worsdale, director of MIMA.

“We’ll be asking visitors to look at Draw as a kind of conversation between some of the greatest names in art history, and how their legacy has been passed down and reconsidered.”

Also among the works, loaned from the likes of Tate, the British Museum, Manchester’s Whitworth Gallery and the Courtauld Institute, will be pieces by Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Gavin Turk, and Joseph Beuys and David Musgrave.

Future exhibitions planned include a Claes Oldenburg retrospective, an exhibition created in collaboration with the Bauhaus Museum in Germany on the modernist school of art and design, and shows of works by local artist William Tillyer, Japanese ceramicist Takeshi Yasuda and potter Edmund de Waal.

The permanent collection, comprising more than 1,000 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculptures includes works by many more famous names. Ben Nicholson, David Bomberg, LS Lowry, Stanley Spencer, Gwen John, David Hockney and Bridget Riley are all represented.

MIMA is part of a renaissance in the town of Middlesbrough. Courtesy MIMA

Other special collections will showcase jewellery and ceramics, while temporary exhibitions have five galleries to choose from, as well as informal exhibition spaces. A roof terrace, sculpture garden, café, shop and lecture rooms complete the centre, which has an in-house conservator.

MIMA is part of a renaissance in Middlesbrough, which is set to have its own creative quarter called BoHo. The development, which will draw in digital media and creative companies with workspaces in new and refurbished Victorian buildings, has been kickstarted with £7 million in funding from the regional development agency One NorthEast.

MIMA is funded by Middlesbrough Council, the National Lottery through the Arts Council, One NorthEast-SRB and the Single Programme, the Government Office North East, the Northern Rock Foundation and the Christina Foyle Foundation.

"MIMA is going to be a fantastic flagship for Middlesbrough for many years to come," said Mark Robinson, Executive Director, Arts Council England, North East. "I am delighted that it is showing the kind of world class ambition to pull this kind of show together, bringing some of art's most famous names to Middlesbrough. I know it will be well worth waiting for, and establish MIMA on the international circuit."

The gallery will open to the public for a sneak preview of Draw from 5.30-9pm on January 27 following a firework display outside. Normal opening hours will then apply (see 24 Hour Museum listing). Admission is free.