Between Parisian savoir-faire and Chinese contemporary creativity, la Galerie du 19M arrives in Shanghai with a project exploring craftsmanship as a living language of exchange.
From September 25 to November 15, 2026, le19M travels from Paris to Shanghai for one of its most ambitious international projects to date. Founded by CHANEL in 2021 and home to 11 Maisons d’art and nearly 700 artisans and experts, the creative hub takes over the entire third floor of the Museum of Art Pudong (MAP) with la Galerie du 19M SHANGHAI — a meeting point between French Métiers d’art, Chinese craftsmanship and contemporary artistic practice.
A Visual Language Between Two Cultures
The project begins before entering the exhibitions themselves. Conceived by French art director Éric Pillault and Chinese art director Ying Lei, the graphic identity of la Galerie du 19M SHANGHAI draws inspiration from the kite, imagined as a poetic thread connecting earth and sky, heritage and imagination, France and China.
Modernist typography meets a vibrant palette inspired by Shanghai’s metropolitan energy, translating the precision of traditional craftsmanship into a distinctly contemporary visual language. An introductory installation by Studio Adrien Gardère then immerses visitors in the gestures, materials, tools and processes of le19M’s resident Maisons d’art, revealing how centuries-old techniques continue to be reinvented through contemporary practice.
A Sense of Touch
At the heart of the programme is “A Sense of Touch” (触碰 Chù Pèng), a group exhibition that considers touch not simply as a physical sensation, but as a means of knowing, remembering and creating.
Shaped by an editorial committee comprising Gong Yan, Lin Tianmiao, Zhang Lei and Christelle Kocher, the exhibition establishes a direct dialogue between the Maisons d’art of le19M and artists and artisans from China and France.
Leading Chinese figures including Ding Yi, Yin Xiuzhen, Shen Yuan, Wu Jian’an, Bi Rongrong and Qian Lihuaiappear alongside French creatives such as Diane Chéry, Mathilde Albouy and Julian Farade. Through embroidery, textiles, ceramics, woodcarving, lacquer, bamboo weaving and installation, their practices explore the possibilities that emerge when hand, material and cultural memory encounter one another.
Rather than treating craft as a heritage to be preserved unchanged, A Sense of Touch presents it as a living practice — one capable of evolving through experimentation, collaboration and exchange.
LIN TIANMIAO
GONG YAN
ZANGH LEI
Christelle Kocher
A Century of Lesage
Running alongside the group exhibition is a newly conceived edition of “Lesage. 100 Years of Fashion and Decoration”, developed by Maison Lesage and Émilie Hammen, Director of Palais Galliera.
Founded in 1924 and closely intertwined with the history of CHANEL, Lesage has spent more than a century pushing the possibilities of embroidery and weaving, collaborating with generations of designers while preserving some of fashion’s most exceptional artisanal techniques.
Shanghai also provides a particularly meaningful setting for the exhibition. The presentation traces Lesage’s long dialogue with Chinese decorative culture, from the Coromandel lacquer screens that fascinated Gabrielle Chanel to the Maison’s meticulous reconstruction of the Chinese silk embroideries in Victor Hugo’s Red Salon. It is a history in which inspiration moves continuously between cultures, techniques and generations.
Beyond the galleries, a programme of talks, daily workshops, guided activities and a dedicated boutique expands the experience, with particular emphasis on transmission to younger audiences. Visitors will even be able to discover embroidery techniques directly with artisans from Maison Lesage.
With la Galerie du 19M SHANGHAI, CHANEL does more than showcase exceptional craftsmanship. It creates a space in which savoir-faire is allowed to move, meet other traditions and transform. Between Paris and Shanghai, the hand becomes the connecting thread — carrying technique, memory and culture into new forms of contemporary creation.
