(Craft a Vase) A commission from the Centre National des Arts Plastiques
par Noémie LesquinsExhibition at La Platine – Cité du design, Saint-Étienne 29 April – 20 September 2026
Curatorship Céline Saraiva, curator, Head of the Design and Decorative Arts Collection, Centre National des Arts Plastiques (CNAP)
Scenography Emilieu Studio
Exhibition Production Léa Genaud (CNAP)
Technical production Charles Durand, Bérangère François, Jonathan Grandcollot, Matthieu Mas, Clément Morel, Elisabeth Perrot, Olivier Philit, David Simonin, Philippe Spader (CNAP)
Media partners Beaux Arts Magazine, Culturel Média
A familiar object, the vase has endured through the centuries and served many purposes.
Behind the apparent simplicity of its form lies a vast field of experimentation for contemporary designers. Through the presentation of working documents (drawings, models, samples, etc.), Créer un vase reveals the research processes, trials, and explorations that led to the conception of these pieces.
Echoing the exhibition, the installation Topographies du vase(Topographies of the Vase) presents a pedagogical project developed in partnership with the École Supérieure d’Art et Design de Saint-Étienne (Ésad Saint-Étienne) (Saint-Étienne Higher School of Art and Design).
“Les strates” Vase. Geology, buried memory, sediments. Subin Chung – Leeagh‑Marie Bouget – Erine Potier. Inspired by the Furan, an invisible river flowing beneath Saint‑Étienne, this vase reveals the geological strata of the territory through core samples and sediments. It invites us to uncover a hidden history, where each layer tells a fragment of local memory. A reflection on what lies beneath our feet, between oblivion and revelation.
This project invited students to explore the defining characteristics of Saint-Étienne as a starting point for their creative process. Some focused on the tube, central to the city’s arms manufacturing heritage; others drew on the Jacquard loom, invented here, or on the blowpipe once used by miners. Working in groups of three, they took into account both territorial contexts and the uses of objects before designing their vases. These pieces become true extensions and materialisations of their accumulated impressions.
