Embroidery in Dialogue: Inside le19M’s Shanghai Craft Exhibition

What happens when an embroidery workshop works with an artist whose visual language was developed in another medium? In Shanghai, A Sense of Touch offers one answer. Presented by le19M from September 25 to November 15, 2026, the exhibition brings Chinese and French creative practices into the same space, with embroidery among the materials through which they meet.

The exhibition is more interesting than a simple pairing of “traditional” and “modern.” A stitch can translate a painted line, introduce texture to a geometric form, or make an image change as light moves across its surface. It also asks a practical question: which decisions belong to the artist, and which emerge from the knowledge of the workshop making the work? Those questions help visitors look beyond the finished surface.

A collaboration you can read through material

City News Service’s exhibition guide describes an embroidered collaboration between Chinese artist Ding Yi and the French workshop Montex. It also notes work by French artist Deborah Fischer involving Xiang embroidery. These are distinct projects; neither should be used as evidence that every piece in the exhibition employs the same technique or regional tradition.

The organizer’s exhibition page places these encounters in a wider program of artists and craft workshops, alongside a presentation concerning Lesage. For someone encountering embroidery through fashion accessories, the exhibition is a reminder that thread can serve as an artistic medium in its own right. Density, direction and raised or flat surfaces can matter as much as color.

What this means for a closer look at embroidery

When viewing an embroidered object, try following a single line from beginning to end. Does it remain one continuous mark, or is it built from many small changes in stitch direction? Then step sideways: a surface that looks flat in a photograph may reveal relief and shadow in person. Looking slowly respects the choices and labor that made the object possible.

This is an account of an exhibition and its reported collaborations, not a claim that SAYRUE participated or that any SAYRUE product uses the workshops or techniques named above. For dates and visitor information, consult le19M’s official page before planning a visit.

Original SAYRUE conceptual illustration. It does not depict an exhibited work or the venue.