9 facts you might not know about the Sainsbury Centre

Measuring 35 metres wide and one hundred and thirty metres long the Sainsbury Centre has the largest temporary exhibition space in the East of England spread over three galleries and a mezzanine gallery.

The building contains the extraordinary art collection of Robert and Lisa Sainsbury, as well as the Anderson Collection of Art Nouveau and the University's Abstract and Constructivist Collection.

Permanently displayed in the Living Area Gallery, the Robert & Lisa Sainsbury collection includes major holdings of art from Oceania, Africa, the Americas, Asia, the ancient Mediterranean cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome, Medieval Europe, and includes a significant number of works acknowledged as seminal examples of European modern art, such as Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, Francis Bacon, Jacob Epstein, Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti and Amedeo Modigliani.

Designed between 1974 and 1976 and opened in 1978, the Sainsbury Centre was the first major public building designed by now renowned architect Norman Foster.

The Sainsbury Centre also houses the university's School of Art History and World Art Studies and the Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Oceania, Africa and the Americas.

Hollywood came to the Sainsbury Centre in 2014 with A-listers Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Elizabeth Olsen and others on site for filming.

Marvel fans also had the chance to dress up as their favourite characters and walk along the Crescent Wing corridor at a special event to mark the release of the film.

In 1990, as Patron of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Diana, Princess of Wales, visited the newly established Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania & the Americas, based in the Sainsbury Centre.

The collections can be enjoyed free of charge. The Centre is open Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm and Saturday-Sunday, 10am-5pm.

The Modern Life and East End Café are a great place to meet friends for coffee, lunch or afternoon tea and for looking out onto the UEA broad or sculpture park through our giant windows.

The Centre has a constantly changing critically acclaimed programme of special exhibitions. Current shows include Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific and Masters of Japanese Photography.

Exhibitions coming soon are a major retrospective of the work of Paul Nash opening in April. This is followed in May by an exhibition of works by Rana Begum (example above) – one of the most exciting young artists working today.

Previous major exhibitions include Masterpieces: Art and East Anglia (2013), Francis Bacon and the Masters (2015) and Alberto Giacometti: A Line Through Time (2016).

There's something for everyone at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. To see the full programme visit www.scva.ac.uk.