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French cultural institution, The Decorative Arts Museum is gearing up for their upcoming exhibition ‘Design for all: from Prisunic to Monoprix, a French adventure’ from 2nd December 2021 to 15th May 2022. Featuring two of the largest French retailers, Prisunic and Monoprix, the exhibits will include everyday objects that have been able to democratize design. The scenography of the exhibition has been entrusted to architect and designer, India Mahdavi.
The Decorative Arts Museum is a public organisation, based in Paris, France, and dedicated to the job of collaborating with prominent museums, educational institutions and libraries that work on and around design, fashion, textiles, advertising, graphics, decorative arts and the arts of living.
Founded in 1931 and introduced in France in the year 1946, the Prisunic chain of stores was able to significantly demonstrate its impact in the world of furniture and clothing by the end of the 1950s. Monoprix was founded an year after Prisunic, in 1932, by Max Heilbronn. Prisunic and Monoprix, driven by the common desire to make design accessible and affordable to all, merged in 1997. They now collectively represent the French style and serve as an important brand in the lives of its customers.
The exhibition, ‘Design for all: from Prisunic to Monoprix, a French adventure’ will showcase some of the greatest and most successful collaborations that the two retail stores have made with renowned designers. Amongst them is Terence Conran, who participated in the first sales catalogue by Prisunic in 1968, where he presented furniture, lighting and tableware. Other designers include Marc Held, India Mahdavi, Constance Guisset and Ionna Vautrin as well as graphic designers, photographers and illustrators like Roman Cieslewicz and Friedemann Hauss.
The exhibits will be placed thematically and chronologically, comprising two parts. The first will be dedicated to Prisunic, and will feature their collaborations with designers and graphic artists who worked on the catalogues disseminated between 1968 and 1976. The second part will highlight the creations of designers who collaborated with Monoprix and designed tableware, seating and clothing on the theme ‘everyday objects’.
Other parts of the exhibition will be populated with Monoprix design pieces displayed in refrigerators that have been refurbished as display cases; visual display of the history of each brand through archival documents and objects; and a display of posters from the museum. The Pavillon de Marsan within the museum will host several monographs by designers India Mahdavi, Paola Navone, Ionna Vautrin, Constance Guisset and Nadia Gallardo, all of who have collaborated with Monoprix.
About India Mahdavi
India Mahdavi is an Iranian-French architect, designer and scenographer. She opened her own studio ‘Studio India Mahdavi’ in the year 2000. In the past two decades, she has launched her own furniture collection, her showroom and a boutique, which serves to promote a range of crafts and ancestral techniques along with her signature style. An eminent designer, she has previously collaborated with Monoprix and was assigned the role of the scenographer for the exhibit at The Decorative Arts Museum. Her monograph will also be made available for sale at her showroom at Rue Las Cases, Paris, France.
The exhibition ‘Design for all: from Prisunic to Monoprix, a French adventure’ is open from 2nd December 2021 to 15th May 2022 at The Decorative Arts Museum, rue de Rivoli, Paris, France-75001.
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