Petits mondes

The exhibition follows in the footsteps of the exhibition titled “The Childhood of Design” organised at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2024, as well as the legacy of the national collections, each of which testifies to the wealth of children’s design. 

As an heir to the Centre for Industrial Creation and its exhibitions dedicated to childhood, including “The City and the Child” in 1977-1978 and “Toys and Games” in 1979, the Centre Pompidou’s Design Collection has acquired some 60 pieces of children’s furniture in recent years, thanks to the support of the Bonpoint brand, and now includes some 120 works. 

The collection of the National Centre for Plastic Arts has also received major ensembles, including the collection of Les Trois Ourses association (1988-2018), which focuses on children’s books designed by artists and designers. This collection now includes over 500 items. 
The Toy Department of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs was created in 1973 and has over 15,000 toys from the late 18th century to nowadays. From popular games to exceptional pieces (royal toys, Lanvin dolls, designer games), the collection offers a full panorama of the evolution of toys, reflecting social and technological changes. 

Lastly, the prototypes created by the Research and Creation Studio at Mobilier National, created at the initiative of André Malraux in 1964, testify to innovative research by contemporary creators around children’s furniture.

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From furniture to toys, from the modernist movement to the pop aesthetic, from the bedroom to the nursery, the exhibition references the great 20th-century pedagogues who created objects and toys for children (Enzo Mari, Bruno Munari, Katsumi Komagata) and retraces the evolution of children’s furniture, often multifunctional, in which play occupies a predominant position. The themed circuit fits perfectly into the domesticity of the former 19th-century town house that now houses the Hôtel des Arts TPM, one of the metropolitan authority’s art spaces. 
Staged by the Hall.Haus collective of designers (Teddy Sanches, Sammy Bernoussi, Zachari Boukhari, Abdoulaye Niang), a finalist in Design Parade Hyères 2022, the exhibition draws inspiration from children’s games (game of the goose, off-ground tag, playground, merry-go-round, etc.) and features some 200 works from around 60 creators, from the early 20th century to the present day, showing the evolution and diversity of fields in which design responds to children's needs and imagination.