SEPTEMBER 2026 EDITION

IN MATERIA : LIVING MATERIALS
BY ELIZABETH LERICHE

At the entrance to the Fine Craft - métiers d'art sector of Maison&Objet, from September 10-14, 2026, the In Materia space, conceived by Elizabeth Leriche, brings together a selection of unique pieces and limited editions created by international master artisans. Designed as a sensory journey through contemporary creation, this scenography highlights the ability of fine crafts to foster a dialogue between innovation, technical mastery, and artistic expression.

In resonance with Pulse in Motion, the theme of Maison&Objet's Autumn 2026 edition, In Materia explores the relationships between material, color, and perception. Through an immersive experience organized around a circular scenography, the works interact with one another, creating a landscape of forms, textures, and shades that invites visitors to look at art objects through a renewed lens.

A conversation with the renowned trend forecaster and curator of the space.

Why did you choose to highlight materials such as hammered metal, veined wood, or crackled ceramics?

E.L.: Materials carry a silent life, perceptible through their textures, irregularities, and transformations. Hammered metal, wood with uneven grain, crackled ceramics, blown glass, each surface preserves the trace of its history. Within this dialogue with matter, the artisan's gesture is essential: the hand shapes and imprints a rhythm. Every intervention leaves a singular mark, and the process remains visible in the finished object, like a form of gestural writing.

Did "Pulse in Motion," the theme of this autumn's Maison&Objet edition, inspire you? How would you define this energy present in the objects?

E.L.: A pulse is made of variations in intensity, accelerations, and tensions. From this energy emerges a kind of radiance: the object seems to transcend its simple materiality. Color contributes to this vibration, revealing the depth and metamorphosis of the material. Manual work thus becomes part of an organic temporality, shaped by adjustments and repetitions, rooted in transmitted savoir-faire and in a constant attentiveness to material itself.

Why did you choose a circular scenography?

E.L.: The transformations of matter and form belong to a broader cycle - that of nature and time. This logic is expressed through a circular scenography, where color acts as a sensitive thread, connecting the works and extending throughout the space the dynamic of continuous transformation.

Through In Materia, Elizabeth Leriche offers a poetic and contemporary interpretation of fine crafts, in which matter appears as a living organism shaped by time, gesture, and transformation. The circular scenography extends this reflection by evoking the cycles of nature and the rhythms of life. Guided by a color journey inspired by the changing light from dawn onward, it accompanies visitors through an immersive experience where the works converse with one another, revealing both the expressive power of materials and the enduring presence of the artisan's hand.

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