iCentre Pompidou · Beaubourg
Suivez le fil! Design & Textile
Around 100 works from the Centre Pompidou's design collections by some 40 creators, showing how textiles underpin spaces and objects at the intersection of craftsmanship and technology. At Hotel des arts TPM, Toulon.
More in Paris
Run your hand gently over Chloé Bensahel's fabric, woven at the Beauvais manufactory, and a word appears on it and music starts. Elsewhere Marcel Wanders' Knotted Chair is macramé rope frozen stiff with epoxy resin, and the wall labels are printed on cloth.
About 100 works by some 40 designers come from the Centre Pompidou, the Mobilier national, Sèvres, the CNAP and the Musée des Arts décoratifs, paired across a century rather than in date order. You start with Eileen Gray's 1920s carpet studies, then "Révolution des formes": Pierre Paulin's body-hugging seats and Olivier Mourgue's 1968 stackable cells from a Rennes cafeteria. At the foot of the stairs, "Sortir du mur" pushes tapestry towards sculpture. Grey fabric covers the walls and mouldings.
The Good Life called it worth the detour. It's at the Hôtel des Arts in Toulon, not Paris, and closes on 31 October. Entry is free, Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 6pm, with guided tours Wednesdays and Saturdays at 3pm, no booking.
Look for
Marcel Wanders' Knotted Chair (1996)
Look for a chair hand-knotted from aramid rope like macramé, then set rigid with epoxy resin so the knots hold their shape.
Chloé Bensahel's woven piece
Pass your hand gently over this Beauvais-woven fabric and a word appears on it while music plays.
Olivier Mourgue's stackable cells (1968)
In the "Révolution des formes" section, seating cells made to stack, designed for the cafeteria of the Maison de la culture in Rennes.
Pierre Paulin's Siège 577 "Langue" (1967)
A low lounger in stretch synthetic fabric that follows the curves of the body, the 1960s idea that cover could shape the furniture.
Pauline Esparon's Fauteuil Arso (2024)
A walnut armchair upholstered in linen felt dyed by hand with rhubarb.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Nerding Out
- Rainy Days
With kids
The Hôtel des Arts runs family workshops from age 2 with an adult, but the October sessions are fully booked. Entry to the show is free.
Also at Centre Pompidou
On now nearby
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Image credits
9
- Suivez le fil! Design & Textile© Marcel Wanders - Crédit photographique : Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Georges Meguerditchian/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn
- Mungo Thomson: Monument© Mungo Thomson. Courtesy l'artiste, galerie frank elbaz, and Karma.
- Yu Nishimura: Towards a SeaCourtesy of Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation Galeries Lafayette
- Hélène Fauquet: VivresseCourtesy of Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation Galeries Lafayette
- Centre PompidouAlf van Beem / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Lafayette Anticipations - Fondation Galeries LafayettePhilouSunshine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
- Fondation Henri Cartier-BressonVVVCFFrance, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Musée des Arts et MétiersMarianne Casamance, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bourse de Commerce - Pinault CollectionChabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0