Design and Arts & Crafts
Discover the missions of the French Institute and what it offers in the design and crafts sector.
French crafts and design are recognized worldwide for their excellence, innovation and ability to respond to major contemporary issues: sustainability, transmission of know-how, hybridization of practices and inclusion. The Institut français supports the international visibility of these sectors in close collaboration with the cultural network abroad, professionals, French institutions and cooperation players. For the period 2024-2026, it is deploying a joint strategy around major international events, programs to support creation and export, as well as structuring actions.
Our missions
As an operator of cultural diplomacy, the Institut français works to promote the international recognition and dissemination of French art and design. It strives to promote the richness and diversity of the French scene, supporting both young emerging talents and established designers.
IF actively supports the export of works, the structuring of sectors abroad and the establishment of lasting cooperation between French and international professionals. Through its actions, it also strengthens the expertise of the cultural network in these specific sectors, facilitating networking, skills development and resource sharing.
Finally, the French Institute highlights know-how of excellence and encourages innovative approaches, when it comes to eco-design, research-creation or experiments at the crossroads of digital, craft and design.
Our key programs
Cultural and Creative Industries Program (PICC)
Project support
Open
From 19 January 2026 to 19 February 2026
Residencies at Villa Kujoyama
Residence and professional mobility
Open
From 03 February 2026 to 03 March 2026
Key figures
Since 2018, the Institut français has been supporting the visibility and mobility of French designers in the fields of crafts and design, contributing to the emergence of an internationally recognized French creative scene. Thanks to its support schemes (Export, Incontournable, ICC, MIRA, residencies...), over 500 designers and craftspeople have been able to showcase their work at major events such as Milano and Mexico Design Week or London Craft Week.
Each year, over 50 projects are supported in some 50 countries via the French cultural network abroad, mobilized to promote contemporary creation and strengthen cooperative ventures. In this case, Focus Métiers d'Art et Design welcomes a dozen foreign professionals to France to meet the French scene, facilitating exchanges, residencies and cross-programming.
+ More than 500 French designers and craftsmen supported on the international scene, all types combined.
+ more than 50 projects supported each year in the design and crafts sectors.
Between 15 and 20
foreign professionals welcomed to France each year, and help them identify the French scene, as part of Focus Design (2022) or Focus métiers d'art (2024, 2025).
Our partners
Local authorities:Each year, thanks to the Institut français's agreements with French local authorities, artistic organizations and events in the fields of design and craft from all over France benefit from support to develop their international actions, in France or around the world.
Institutional and public: Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, French cultural network abroad, Jardin des métiers d'Art et du Design (JAD), Les Manufactures Nationales, Institut pour les savoir-faire français (formerly INMA).
Operators specialized in Métiers d'art: Ateliers d'Art de France, la Fondation Bettencourt Schueller, CIRVA, CIRVA, CIAV, Ecomusée du verre de l'Avesnois, CRAFT Limoges, Musée Adrien Dubouché, Centre de Céramique Contemporaine de La Borne, Cité internationale de la tapisserie d'Aubusson, le 19M, Compagnons du devoir, Fotokino, La Métairie Bruyère.
Specialized design operators:APCI, Le French Design by VIA, Paris Design Week, Agora du Design, France Design Education.
Schools and places of transmission: ENSCI - Les Ateliers, Ecole Boulle, Ecole Duperré, ENSAD Limoges.
Projects and milestones
Villa Kujoyama: four Japanese art masters immersed in France
4 December 2025
"Ce qui se trame": a Franco-Indian dialogue on textiles
25 November 2025
