Iris Ceramica Group’s “Magical Journey” landed in Paris
Presented during Maison&Objet – In the City, “The Magical Journey – Revealing Our Alchemical Soul” transforms the ICG Gallery Paris into an immersive narrative where ceramics become a bridge between memory, innovation, art and technology.
During Maison&Objet – In the City January 2026 edition, Iris Ceramica Group brought its ongoing narrative project The Magical Journey – Revealing Our Alchemical Soul, to the French capital, opening the doors of its ICG Gallery at 39 Rue d’Alésia to an immersive exploration of ceramic materiality. More than a showroom presentation, the Paris stop represents a new chapter in a journey that began at Cersaie and continued in Dubai, conceived as a travelling story that unfolds across different cultural and geographic contexts.
Set against the backdrop of Maison&Objet’s 2026 theme, Past Reveals Future, the project positions ceramics as a material deeply rooted in history yet capable of expressing responsible innovation. For Iris Ceramica Group, design becomes a bearer of memory and tradition while simultaneously opening new perspectives on how materials can evolve through technology, research and creative experimentation.
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At the core of The Magical Journey lies the metaphor of alchemy. An ancient process that transforms matter into something precious becomes a symbolic framework for the Group’s approach to ceramics: re-engineering a noble material to enhance both its expressive and functional potential. This vision is encapsulated in the concept of beautility, where beauty and performance.
At the core of The Magical Journey lies the metaphor of alchemy. An ancient process that transforms matter into something precious becomes a symbolic framework for the Group’s approach to ceramics: re-engineering a noble material to enhance both its expressive and functional potential. This vision is encapsulated in the concept of beautility, where beauty and performance coexist as a single design value. Ceramics are not merely surfaces, but living matter able to embody aesthetics, technique and superior performance at once.
The ICG Gallery Paris is conceived as an immersive environment rather than a conventional exhibition space. Visitors are invited to experience the showroom as travellers embarking on a path of transformation, moving through a narrative that unfolds within the material itself. Art and technology coexist in a carefully curated setting, where refined ceramic surfaces such as Bottega d’Arte Terrecotte, 4D Ceramics and Full Body slabs dialogue with advanced technological applications developed by the Group.
Technology plays a crucial role in translating the poetic language of alchemy into tangible design solutions. Moonlight, the back-lit ceramic slab system, explores the relationship between material and light, turning surfaces into luminous architectural elements. Hypertouch® introduces smart ceramic surfaces connected to home automation systems, redefining how users interact with built environments.
Active Surfaces®, meanwhile, bring an eco-active dimension to ceramics, offering antibacterial, antiviral and anti-pollution properties that respond to contemporary concerns around health and sustainability. Together, these innovations demonstrate how technological research can expand the narrative and functional scope of ceramic materials.
Art acts as the primary narrative engine of the Paris installation. Visual artist Lorenza Liguori contributes a series of digital videomorphing works projected onto high-definition LED walls, interpreting the alchemical journey through three symbolic phases. Breaking represents dissolution and transformation, as matter changes form; Glowing marks a moment of purification and heightened perception; Revealing culminates in awareness, unveiling a new way of observing and understanding material reality. The result is a visionary visual landscape that blends nature, abstraction and shifting perspectives, immersing visitors in a continuous metamorphosis.
On the gallery’s exterior window, an illustrated artwork by French artist Héléna Soubeyrand offers a more delicate yet equally symbolic interpretation of alchemy. Using acrylic paint and markers, Soubeyrand creates a composition inspired by nature and human figures, where soft lines and geometric symbols evoke the phases of transformation. The artwork appears to lift the material into light, turning the storefront into a threshold between the physical and the metaphorical.
In the context of Maison&Objet – In the City, the project reinforces the role of the showroom as a cultural space, capable of hosting experiences that go beyond commerce. At ICG Gallery Paris, ceramics become the medium through which a story of transformation unfolds, a reminder that the future of design often emerges from a deep understanding of the past.
