At the Osaka Universal Exhibition in Japan, France inaugurates a pavilion where craftsmanship meets the challenges of tomorrow. Interview by Anne Daubrée
While the 2025 Universal Exhibition has just opened its doors in Osaka, Japan, the countries of the world compete in ingenuity to assert their know -how – it is, after all, the purpose of the exercise. France is not to be outdone and offers a pavilion that meets the challenges of our ultra-technical century. In an ever more scary world, where progress is sometimes tinged with a dark aura, how can we consider a bright future? Answer: by love and return to know-how know-how. “Knowledge of the arts” met Jacques Mayor, general commissioner of the French pavilion.
Knowledge of the arts: What answer brings the French pavilion to the theme of the Osaka Universal Exhibition “Design the society of the future, imagine our life of tomorrow”?
Jacques Mayor: For a long time, during universal exhibitions, technical progress was presented as the answer to the questions of societies. The context has changed. Today, we wonder about the future of humanity in an ever more technological future, dense in environmental risks, in social discomfort … To this, the French pavilion brings a sensitive answer: love with a great A which encompasses them all, that of others, self, nature … Our culture, our know-how are an integral part of this answer. Indeed, the identity of France is inseparable from history, of traditions nourished by patient accumulation of know-how. So, turning to chosen traditions, which is estimated to be carriers of meaning is also to end up, reconnecting with the thickness of time. The reverse of a forward flight in a supposed progress …
Jacques Mayor, general commissioner of the French pavilion © Olivier Roller
How does the contribution of artistic and craft works as an answer to the challenges of the 21st century embodied in the pavilion?
A molding of the sculpture of Mercury removing psyche From Adriaen de Vries produced by the Grandpalaisrmn molding workshop is placed in front of the pavilion, as an announcement of the importance given to know-how, to art. Inside, very diverse, contemporary and historical works are presented: a chimera having survived the fire of Notre-Dame, the mahogany sculpture of Pi’ihoro, a protective dog of cosmogony, work of Viri Taimana, a living Polynesian artist. In addition, the decoration and furniture of the reception and conviviality spaces of the pavilion, designed under the artistic direction of José Lévy, are the fruit of these know-how. For example, parts of designer Joseph-André Motte were published for the first time by national furniture. Another designer, Sam Baron, revisited the statue of the Manufacture de Sèvres, Kiss him. A whole ecosystem of workshops, small and large companies and public establishments contributed to the production of the pavilion.
The France Pavilion of the Universal Exhibition 2025 in Osaka, a synthetic image. © COLDEFY/CRA-CARLO RATTI Associati.
Ode to craftsmen and artists, does the pavilion avoid the backward-looking pitfall?
The pavilion is not anti-technical, it is even at the forefront of innovation! In particular, we have designed a complete virtual visit to the pavilion for all those who will not be able to go there in person. The immersive visit to high definition restores entirely textures and colors. This is a first. On site, the scenographic and artistic production of the pavilion, produced by the studio GSM Project and Justine Emard, is also innovative. Three -dimensional images will arise in space. For example, the arrow of Notre-Dame to evoke the reconstruction of the cathedral … An island of biodiversity, poetic mixture of mineral, animal and plant forms, was generated by artificial intelligence … upstream, the teleport, work tool designed by Dassault Systems, allowed professionals involved in the realization of the pavilion to immerse themselves in a three-dimensional space, In order to best articulate architecture, scenography, sounds and lights …
Haute couture tailor jackets Bar From the Dior house, spring-summer 1947 collection. © Dior.
A collegial adventure
The organization of the French pavilion in Osaka is carried by the Cofrex, the French company of exhibitions, a company with public capital. This is based on the contribution of around forty partners. Among them, the four main, LVMH, AXA, Alsace wines and Ninapharm express, within the journey of the permanent exhibition of the pavilion, the excellence of French know-how in the fields of fashion and luggage, viticulture, arts and natural sciences.
Viri diamonds, Pi’ihoro2025, mahogany. © Center for French Polynesia Art Mets.
Japanese culture is very present in the pavilion. Simple tribute to the host country of The exhibition?
It is much more than that. France and Japan share this same relationship with know-how which arises from an identity structured by history. This proximity between the two countries presided over each of the pavilion facilities. For example, Dior’s immersive space has works by Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka. Shuho Hananofu, first mistress of flowers with Kyoto silver temple, will decorate the reception spaces and the bistro: these very French places of inspiration put in the spotlight Japanese aesthetics. And we have chosen to conclude the pavilion course precisely on this identity shared between our two countries: the archipelago room tells the same story that is embodied in works and emblematic sites that meet-Mont-Saint-Michel and the Miyajima sanctuary, for example. Precious, fragile sites, a natural and artistic heritage that man is working to preserve, thanks to his know-how.
Woven in Aubusson, the tapestry Ashitaka relieves her demonic injury pays tribute to Miyazaki and his Princess Mononoké At the heart of the France pavilion. © Hayao Miyazaki/GSM Project studios.
