France will inaugurate the National Design Gallery on 10 June 2026, establishing a new cultural venue dedicated to the presentation and interpretation of design within a national context.
Located within the Cité du Design, on the site of the former Arms Factory, the gallery is conceived as a central platform for showcasing France's extensive public design collections, which collectively comprise more than 30,000 works. Rather than maintaining a permanent collection, the institution will operate through a rotating exhibition model, drawing on loans from major national and regional collections.
© France National Design Gallery
The initiative is supported by a network of institutions, including the Centre Pompidou, Centre National des Arts Plastiques and the Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, alongside other partner museums and foundations. This collaborative structure is intended to facilitate the circulation of works and broaden public access to design heritage.
The gallery will open with the exhibition Design in Hand: From Language to Object, curated by design historian Laurence Mauderli. Featuring nearly 400 works, the exhibition traces the evolution of design from the 19th century to the present, exploring themes of craftsmanship, industrialisation and contemporary practice.
Structured around the concept of the hand, the exhibition is organised into thematic sections that examine making, transmission and use. By linking language and object, it proposes an interpretative framework that positions design as both a cultural and social practice.
Spanning more than 1,000 square metres, the National Design Gallery combines exhibition areas with spaces for education, research and public programming. The project reflects a broader ambition to position design as a key component of cultural discourse, extending beyond display into engagement and dialogue.
The gallery will open to the public on 11 June 2026, with its inaugural exhibition running until March 2027.
More information:
National Design Gallery
[email protected]
www.galerienationaledudesign.fr
