Opened in Saint-Étienne in June 2026, the Galerie Nationale du Design offers a new perspective on design heritage and culture.
Photography courtesy of Pierre Grasset
Conceived as a reference institution on both a national and international scale, and developed in partnership with major cultural organisations, the Galerie is dedicated to exhibiting and circulating public design collections.
More than a showcase for remarkable objects, the Galerie Nationale du Design aims to tell the stories of design, highlight its contemporary challenges and make a discipline that shapes our everyday lives accessible to the widest possible audience.
Its inaugural exhibition Design en main. Du language à l’objet (Design in Hand. From Language to Object) embodies this ambition.
Photography courtesy of Hubert Genouilhac
A foundational exhibition
Bringing together works from around ten design collections held across France, Design in Hand. From Language to Object gives concrete expression to the Galerie Nationale du Design’s scientific and cultural vision.
Curated by Laurence Mauderli, the exhibition assembles objects, documents and archives from leading institutions including the Centre national des arts plastiques, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design de Bordeaux, and the Frac Grand Large – Hauts-de-France.
Presented together for the first time in a single venue, these works form an original narrative linking Saint-Étienne’s industrial heritage with the major developments in design history, while giving shape to the ambitions of this new institution dedicated to preserving and promoting design heritage.
Design as language and narrative
Presented from 11 June 2026 to 7 March 2027, the exhibition unfolds as a broad narrative exploring design, its origins, its evolution and its role in contemporary society.
Conceived as an invitation to experience design from a fresh perspective, the exhibition is built on a simple idea: design extends far beyond the appearance of objects.
Photography courtesy of Louis Chevalier
It functions as a language in its own right, capable of expressing intentions, responding to needs, supporting technological innovation and reflecting social and cultural change.
The works on display reveal how people conceive, make and inhabit the world around them.
The exhibition brings together iconic twentieth-century pieces alongside contemporary creations drawn from prestigious collections. Furniture, lighting, domestic appliances, everyday objects, prototypes and industrial productions engage in dialogue within a rich and accessible display.
Works by major designers sit alongside more recent creations, illustrating the diversity of approaches, contexts and uses that define the field of design.
A thematic journey through Objects
One of the distinctive features of Design in Hand. From Language to Object lies in the way it tells the story of design.
Rather than following a conventional chronology or a succession of aesthetic movements, the exhibition adopts a thematic approach.
Photography courtesy of Hubert Genouilhac
Structured around six sections, the exhibition takes its inspiration from French expressions associated with the hand to explore different facets of design and the stages of its development.
This everyday vocabulary becomes a mediation tool in its own right, offering ways to examine processes of design and manufacture, patterns of use, craftsmanship, innovation and transmission of knowledge.
From one sequence to the next, visitors discover how objects reflect the technical, economic and cultural transformations of their time.
Find out more about The Galerie Nationale du Design here.
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