Paris, a stage for all forms of international design

They’ve come from Mbabane in the Kingdom of Eswatini. From Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were born in Seoul, work in Stockholm, and are exhibiting their work at Paris Design Week, an open showcase and extraordinary melting pot of inspirations, concepts, and initiatives. The youngest among them have been invited by Paris Design Week Factory, whose four exhibition spaces bring together over twenty nationalities. At Galerie Ellia on 10 Rue de Turenne, you’ll find Kindeswe, the showcase for Congolese design, in a special preview ahead of Kinshasa Design Week in November. At Galerie Joseph on 84 Rue de Turenne, the “Chinese Way of Beauty” presents over 20 exhibitors who represent the new Chinese aesthetic. On Rue Froissart, you’ll discover a collaboration between European designers and artisans from Eswatini, previously known as Swaziland, a small country next to South Africa. This collab will be right next door to the malleable furnishings of Jongha Choi, a young designer supported by the Korean Institute for Design Promotion. The Institut français of Indonesia will present a collaboration between designer Pierre Charrié and Balinese handicrafts. A bit further along, you’ll find artisans from the Spanish provinces of Castilla-La Mancha, centers of the country’s finest craftsmanship.

With a metro map in hand, choose your destination! In the Marais on Rue des Minimes, the Made In Portugal, Naturally exhibition will highlight all the energy of Portuguese design, ranging from one-off pieces to established Portuguese brands that embody excellence. On Rue Bailly, China Week will offer an overview of the Chinese scene, from automotive design to urban architecture. For the Middle East, exit at the Jussieu metro station to reach the Institut du Monde Arabe. On September 4th, the “Prix du Design” will be awarded there, highlighting emerging and established designers showing work on the theme of “Arabofutures”. To immerse yourself in a Scandinavian forest, time to stop off at the Saint-Paul metro station and head for the courtyard of the Institut Suédois Swedish Institute, covered in colorful lichen. At Charles de Gaulle-Etoile station, the destination will be the Maison du Danemark Denmark House and its star designers, or the Cluny-La Sorbonne station, to see the emerging talents at the Institut Finlandais Finnish Institute, including virtuoso Antrei Hartikainen, the award-winning woodworker from the 2024 Rising Talent Awards. Finally, this World Tour concludes at the Ukrainian Embassy, where designers return to raw materials and primal shapes: squares, circles, crosses, and spirals. Their message is to transcend cultural borders and eras and position themselves within the universal heritage of humanity. It promises to be a vibrant epilogue to this tour of the globe in Paris.