The first edition of Dubai Design Week is upon us, which means a phantasmagoria of regional and international works will transform the emirate this week. To help you navigate through the myriad of installations and designers showcasing at this year’s event, we’ve shortlisted some of the most anticipated designs and installations.
Downtown Design
At the heart of Dubai Design Week is the renowned Downtown Design. Now in its third edition, the design fair has doubled in size since its inception, bringing together over 90 brands from over 24 countries from across the globe. This year’s edition follows the success of the past fairs with its kaleidoscopic roster of established and emerging brands across furniture, textiles, jewelry, lighting, accessories, and interior design.
Destinations
Dubai Design Week will host a global initiative, “Destinations,” that will bring together the most creative emerging designers from Mexico, Melbourne, San Francisco, Helsinki, Istanbul, and Beijing.
Abwab Stretching across six pavilions, Abwab (meaning “doors”) will highlight the MENASA region’s local design talent. Each pavilion will act as a portal to the works of gifted designers, curators, and studios from Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. Under the guidance of a curator from each nation, the designers will exhibit their works on this year’s theme, Games: The Element of Play in Culture.
Global Grad Show
The Global Grad Show is a world-first exhibition, which just might churn out some of the most innovative and original works produced by the world’s leading design schools.
Iconic City: Brilliant Beirut A new annual exhibition series, Iconic City, will launch with a focus on Beirut. Brilliant Beirut promises to explore the influence of urban dynamics in the fields of design, production, and creative culture. Curated by Beirut-based designer Rana Salam, the event will explore the past seven decades (1950s—2015) across architecture, education, graphic design, fashion, furniture, and cultural trends. It will also examine the social complexities of Beirut and how its citizens have nurtured creativity and traditional craftsmanship.
Artists for Change
This collaboration between UAE artists and the underprivileged artisans in Afghanistan aims to increase awareness about the difficulties and challenges of disadvantaged artisans while promoting their persevering talents and capabilities.
The six artists invited to participate in the inaugural Artists for Change program will donate their artworks to be woven into hand-knotted carpets, providing employment to the artisans as well as a range of social benefits courtesy of the Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative—the UAE’s carpet production and community development program, which empowers more than 4,000 female artisans in the hand-knotted carpet industry.
Earth Hives The outdoor public installation, Earth Hives, created for Dubai Design Week by designers Latifa Saeed and Talin Hazbar will be set up on the beach across from JBR. The public installation features a lighting system embedded within terracotta hemispheres, which present a section of a traditional clay pot. The project is a part of the designers’ effort to “honor and praise” this Emirati craft. Once in the appreciative hands of the designers, they sought to “deform the pots to explore distortion, deformation, and disfiguration.”
Yaroof
Multidisciplinary designer Aljoud Lootah merges the traditional Emirati craftsmanship with what she sees as modern elements of design. Her approach gave birth to Yaroof, a geometric installation inspired by a type of traditional Emirati fishing, which will be aptly displayed on the beach opposite the JBR area.
TRUSS.T
Dubai-based conceptual artist Zeinab AlHashemi describes her work as a transformative process of deconstruction and reconstruction. AlHashemi works in collaboration with her team of craftsmen, who help turn her vision into a reality. Her work, titled TRUSS.T, is made from the metal scaffolding that can be seen throughout Dubai as the city continues to expand.
Nature in the City An exclusive exhibition, Nature in the City, will feature the works of Lebanese ceramist Nathalie Khayat, giving an insight into her unique interpretation of nature through her creative use of ceramic materials. The exhibition, being held as part of Comptoir 102’s participation in Dubai Design Week, will also showcase the works of local artists Tory Waller and Arnaud Rivieren.
Design Ras Al Khor (DRAK)
Four UAE-based designers—Khulood Thani, Nadine Kanso, Tarik Al Zaharna, and Khalid Shafar—are launching a collective initiative to draw attention to the creative district potential of the Ras Al Khor Industrial Area. The founders will each present a design project in various fields, including jewelry and architecture, along with David O’Brien of Ghaf Kitchen who will showcase a project on food design.
