The town of Herford in north-west Germany made the art world sit up and take notice with its ambitious new project, the MARTa Herford Museum, which opened on 7 May 2005 . With the name MARTa fronting the triad of design (M standing for Möbel/furniture), art (ART) and architecture/ambience (a), the museum aims to provide fresh inspiration for art, design, architecture and business both in the local region and far beyond. An extraordinary complex of buildings designed by Frank Gehry houses a novel combination of a museum, centre of excellence and event forum. It is here that exhibition curator and museum director Roland Nachtigäller displays contemporary aspects of art and design. The main idea behind MARTa Herford is to highlight and redefine the contradictory links between art and business.