Galerie nationale du design
Saint-Étienne
Opening on June 10, 2026
Cité du design
42000 Saint-Étienne
Unique in France, the Galerie nationale du design will open in Saint-Étienne in June 2026. A new venue at the heart of the Cité du design, it is dedicated to bringing together public design collections and fostering dialogue between them, through one major exhibition each year curated by an invited curator, accompanied by an events programme, mediation activities, and publications.
With a collection comprising some 10,000 works by nearly 900 designers, the Centre Pompidou’s design collection is joining this initiative as an exceptional lending partner, alongside other major cultural institutions.
Design en main. Du langage à l'objet
(Hands-on Design. From Language to Object)
Inaugural exhibition
11 June 2026 – 7 March 2027
Taking the hand as its guiding thread, the inaugural exhibition of the Galerie nationale du design explores the dialogue between the shaping gesture and the concepts of design. With examples from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries linking the history of industrial production in Saint-Étienne with the international history of design, the exhibition will invite the public to (re)consider design as an essential, timeless human practice shaped by the challenges specific to each era.
An exhibition curated by design historian Laurence Mauderli.
Featuring works from the collections of CNAP, Centre Pompidou, MAMC+, MADD Bordeaux, FRAC Grand Large – Hauts-de-France, but also Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris), Mobilier National, Manufactures Nationales - Sèvres, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines city museum, Musée d’Art et d’Industrie de Saint-Étienne…
Saint-Étienne, a city of design
Located at the heart of the Cité du design district—a link between industrial heritage and contemporary creation driven by the Saint-Étienne metropolitan area—the Galerie nationale du design is an additional offering that will complement La Platine, which is devoted to contemporary design; La Cabane, aimed at young audiences; the Biénnale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne; and the art and design school, Ésad Saint-Étienne.
A joint initiative of the EPCC (public institution for cultural cooperation) Cité du design-Ésad Saint-Étienne and the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne (MAMC+), the Galerie nationale du design is housed in a former building of the Manufacture d'Armes (arms manufactory). Its approximately 1,000 square metres are devoted to exhibition, facilitation, encounters and experimentations spaces.
A single venue to present and promote the national design collections
The Galerie nationale du design is based on the temporary gathering of public design collections and the dialogue established between them.
Every year, a prominent figure from the world of design will be invited to curate a major exhibition exploring and interrogating design through pieces preserved across France:
- in 2026: Laurence Mauderli, design historian — on the theme of the hand and gesture;
- in 2027: Chantal Prod’Hom, a former director of the Musée Cantonal de Design et d’Arts Appliqués Contemporains (mudac) in Lausanne — on care design;
- in 2028: Marie Pok, director of the Centre d’Innovation et de Design (CID) at Le Grand-Hornu in Belgium — on the theme of the sign.
The principal holding institutions are the Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP), the Centre Pompidou, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs et du Design de Bordeaux (MADD Bordeaux), and the FRAC Grand Large – Hauts-de-France. Other national collections will be included depending on the exhibitions.
