Qatar Museums today announced the plans for six exhibitions that will open during the first week of Design Doha, the biennial showcase for excellence and innovation in the design community in Qatar and the MENA region. The opening week of the biennial will run from 24 February to 28 February, with programming continuing through 5 August 2024.
The exhibition programme will be anchored by Arab Design Now, a regional survey of more than 70 Arab designers featuring 38 commissioned works, which will be on view at M7, Doha’s centre for innovation, entrepreneurship, fashion, and design. Encompassing themes that respond to the unique geographies and cultural values of the region, the exhibition highlights the design sentiments, aesthetics, and preoccupations of the Levant, the Gulf, and North Africa.
Curated by Rana Beiruti, founder of Amman Design Week, Arab Design Now examines how local and regional designers balance contemporary design with traditional methods derived from the region’s heritage, with a particular focus on environmental concerns and sustainable design. The exhibition is accompanied by a major publication, the first to survey multiple projects by all the pioneering designers participating in the exhibition.
Rana Beiruti stated, “Designers, from the Levant to the Gulf to North Africa, exhibit a commitment to heritage-based traditions and rituals, and an eagerness to rediscover, reinterpret, and evolve them. Their design process is inspired by a culture centred on community, collaboration, and co-creation. Their material sensibilities exhibit an intimate relationship with the land and earth and respond to the unique geographies of the region.”
Designers featured in Arab Design Now include Yousef and Elias Anastas (Palestine), Basma Hamdy (Qatar), Levi Hammett (Qatar), Ali Ismail Karimi (Bahrain), Hamed Bukhamseen (Kuwait), Nermeen and Nisreen Abudail (Jordan), David Raffoul (Lebanon), Nicolas Moussallem (Lebanon), Hala Al-Ani (UAE), Hadeyeh Badri (UAE), Riem Ibrahim (UAE), Georges Mohasseb (Lebanon), 40MUSTAQEL (Egypt), Najla’a Abdallah (Jordan), Ahmad Jarrar (Jordan), Haria Hibri (Lebanon), Huda Baroudi (Lebanon), Irthi Council(UAE), Maia Beyrouti (Palestine), Natlie Mahakian (Jordan), Achraf Mzily (Morocco), Turki and Abdulrahman Gazzaz (KSA), Edoardo Pandolfo (Italy), Francesco Palu (Italy), Azel Ait-Mokhtar (Algeria), Youri Asantcheeff (Algeria), Tessa and Tara Sakhi (Lebanon), Thomas Modeen (Kuwait), Maysaa Almumin (Kuwait), Batool Alshaikh (Bahrain), Maitham Almubarak (Bahrain), Christian Vennerstrom Jensen (Bahrain), Hozan Zangana (Iraq), Abeer Seikaly (Jordan), Christian Zahr (Lebanon), Ali Kaaf (Syria/Algeria), Tamara Barrage (Lebanon), Maryam Yousuf Al-Homaid (Qatar), Najla El Zein (Lebanon), Omar El Wakil (Egypt), Sahel Alhiyari (Jordan), Samer Selbak (Palestine), Talin Hazbar (Syria), Anne Holtrop (Bahrain), Salima Naji (Morocco), Hala Kaiksow (Bahrain), Sherine Salla (Egypt), Carla Baz (Lebanon), Mary-Lynn and Carlo Massoud (Lebanon), Sama El Saket (Jordan), Charles Cremona (Lebanon), Flavie Audi (Lebanon), Hamza Kadiri (Morocco), Joe and Amanda Bou Abboud (Lebanon), Lina Alorabi (Egypt), Louis Barthelemy (Morocco/Egypt), Nada Debs (Lebanon), Nada Rizk (Lebanon), Nader Gammas (Syria), Sizar and Sinar Alexis (Iraq), Thomas Trad (Lebanon), Mohammad Sharaf (Kuwait), Adrian Pepe (Lebanon), Aisha Nasser Alsowaidi (Qatar), Anastasia Nysten (Lebanon), Hussein Alazaat (Jordan), Lameice abu Aker (Palestine), Nedim Kufi (Iraq), Filwa Nazer (KSA), Noor Alwan (Bahrain), Ishraq Zraikat (Jordan), Tasneem and Ishraq Zraikat (Jordan), Karen Chekerdjian (Lebanon), Meriem Chebani (Algeria), John Edom (Algeria), Nahla Tabbaa (Jordan), Richard Yasmine (Lebanon), Kawther Alsaffar (Kuwait), Jassim Al Nashmi (Kuwait), Abdulrahman Al Muftah (Qatar), Aline Asmar d’Amman (Lebanon), Amina Agueznay (Morocco), Amine Asselman (Morocco), Asma Derouiche (Qatar), Dima Srouji (Palestine), Smar Saadeh (Lebanon), Hiba Shahzada (Jordan), Dina Haddadin (Jordan), Omar Al Burg (UAE), and Nora Aly (Egypt).
In addition to Arab Design Now, five additional exhibitions will open as part of the inaugural edition of Design Doha. They are Colours of the City: A Century of Architecture in Doha; Weaving Poems; 100/100 HUNDRED BEST ARABIC POSTERS Round 04; and Cultural Kinship.
The Artistic Director of Design Doha, Glenn Adamson, said, “The inaugural edition of our biennial spans the full breadth of design in the Arab world, showing the vitality of the region’s creatives. Featuring conversations with global industry leaders – as well commissions from international designers, a juried prize, and more, Design Doha be an important new platform for regional designers. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to advance their artistic and commercial practices, and welcome the international design community to Doha.”
Colours of the City: A Century of Architecture in Doha, on view from 24 February through March 2024, is a dual-themed exhibition that explores the city’s architectural evolution in response to global influences. The show traces the architectural history of Doha through a variety of styles including ‘Arabic Deco,’ Doha Classicism, and Qatari adaptations influenced by Euro-American and Indian styles, as well as the era of Brutalism as exemplified by Hisham Qaddumi. Ibrahim Al Jaidah’s narrative is explored in the second section of the exhibition, examining his projects such as the Al Thumama stadium for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, demonstrating how Al Jaidah’s designs harmonise cosmopolitan and regional heritage elements. Through 3-D models, photos, interviews, and film, the exhibition threads its way through Doha’s architectural fabric. The exhibition is co-curated by Design Doha Artistic Director Glenn Adamson and Peter Tamas Nagy.
Turquoise Mountain, a non-profit organisation founded by His Majesty King Charles III, presents the captivating Weaving Poems, a showcase of the talent of Afghan-born, Amman-based designer Maryam Omar, who has been commissioned to create a series of abstract carpets inspired by the rich oral heritage of women weavers in Afghanistan, and co-created with artisan communities still practising today. Presented at the M7 theatre space from 24 February until March 2024, each carpet bears testament to the creativity and cultural heritage of Afghanistan. Omar has drawn deeply from the poems associated with weaving practice, cherished by the women weavers. The carpets, hand-woven by women artisans in Afghanistan, are a response to the natural and cultural landscape of the Bamiyan region and convey the qualities of its sky, mountains, earth, and ecology. Through vibrant colours, intricate patterns, and delicate textures, Maryam Omar brings to life the enchanting lyricism and soulful narratives passed down through generations. The installation is completed with passages transcribed from the communal poems and by photography and sound recordings that capture the voices of these extraordinary women.
Celebrating the brilliance of Arabic graphic design, 100/100 HUNDRED BEST ARABIC POSTERS Round 04, will be presented in Qatar for the first time during Design Doha. An independent platform dedicated to celebrating Arabic graphic design, 100/100 — HUNDRED BEST ARABIC POSTERS Round 4 documents the contemporary visual culture of the Arab world through poster design, aiming to inspire, connect, and educate new talents, academics, and professionals. In the biennial competition, an independent jury selects the top 100 posters from a submission across the region. Design Doha will display the posters from the recent, fourth round of the project at M7 Creative Startup Hub from 24 February until March 2024.
Cultural Kinship, a pop-up design exhibit and retail experience, will be presented alongside Arab Design Now at M7. Curated by Joe Bou Abboud, founder of Boo Design Studio, and Asma Derouiche, creative director at Studio 7 Qatar. The exhibition will showcase the richness of the Middle Eastern and Arab identity through innovative design products. It establishes a dialogue between traditional and contemporary design practices, highlighting the evolving nature of cultural identity. Participating creators include Wael Morcos, Maryam Al-Homaid, Marco Bruno, Giovanni Innella, Yasmeen Suleiman, House of Today, Abdulrahman Muftah, Thomas Modeen, Asma El-Derouiche, Boo design studio, The Project, Sizar Alexis Azza Dsouli, Archivart X Akacha, and Majdulin Nasrallah.
Finally, Crafting Uzbekistan: Tradition in Threads presented by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation integrates the rich history of Uzbek craft tradition with contemporary creativity. The immersive showcase opens by providing a focus on wood and textile craft with a selection of historical and contemporary artefacts including handwoven silk ikat and Bakhmal fabrics showcased in parallel with rich carved wooden traditional objects. The scenography stands as an atmospheric experience rooted from the traditional crafts of Uzbekistan. It uses ‘optical weaving’ (with 31,000 lenticular tiles with 26,000,000 threads in total) as a conceptual logic to drive the aesthetic and spatial qualities of the space, with an emphasis on colour and triggering the senses. The exhibition features 50 craft pieces, including a new creation for Design Doha from Lebanese designer Nada Debs who will unveil her new creation produced together with the Uzbek wood master Sirojiddin Rahmatillaev that offers a modern interpretation of a traditional and iconic furniture element. Crafting Uzbekistan: Traditions in Threads opens on 24 February 2024 at M7.
