Aidah by Boano Prišmontas and Ricardas Blazukas, Dubai Design Week 2017. Photo: Courtesy
Dubai Design Week returns for its seventh edition from November 8-13 with in-person showcases in Dubai Design District (D3). With a drive to support the creative community in Lebanon and the rising established Lebanese creative talent, this week-long fair will offer more than 200 free-to-attend events, which combine dialogues on contemporary designs, and over 130 international and regional art brands and designers.
Downtown Design is the region’s leading design fair for high-end and quality design. It is known for bringing in brands, designers, and a strong trade program, where the region’s architects and interior designers can gather and explore business opportunities. Representations from over 20 countries, including Austria, France, Hungary, Italy and Spain, and Downtown Editions, will join under one roof that portrays the latest in design, shedding light on the region.
To bring freshness into the conversation, Dubai Design Week is introducing the MENA Grad Show, where more than 50 ideas relating to improving the world of technology, science and design will be showcased. Those ideas are brought in by some of the region’s bright minds coming out of the region’s leading universities. On a global scale, the Global Grad Show receives more than 470 universities worldwide and launches its online exhibition online.
Shuster + Moseley’s Horizon of Day and Night. Photo: Roman Scott
This creative festival will witness 15 installations and public interventions for visitors to explore in the open-air setting. Some of those installations include Morphing Nature by Kristina Zanic Design Studio for Trend Middle East, The WAW Machine by Emirati creatives Iman Almidfa and Hessa Ali Alechla, The Shape of Light by conceptual art studio Shuster + Moseley, Athenaeum by Ana Carreras for Lever/Mirag, and Context Reflections by Anarchitect in collaboration with Cosentino.
Centered around the idea of human impact on the planet, Dubai-based Ahmed El-Sharabassy will hold a curated pavilion by the Beirut-based architecture and research firm Bits to Atoms, after having been awarded the festival’s headline commission Abwab. Other themes such as the circular economy, design thinking and community design, are also explored through The Re:turn, a pop up space held by Atölye.
Abwab 2021 winning commission Nature in Motion by Ahmed El-Sharabassy. Photo: Courtesy
Visitors can also enjoy attractions like Making Space, where more than 80 workshops under the theme of Paper, Plastic + Play will offer the opportunity to experiment with ancient and innovative ways of making and creating; using sustainable materials such as pottery or reforming plastic to papermaking or using soap as a new medium.
Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), Dubai Design Week partners with D3 as its main podium to demonstrate how innovation can thrive in a collaborative ecosystem. “Our partnership with Dubai Design Week exemplifies D3’s genetic makeup to rethink the regular,” says Khadija Al Bastaki, executive director of D3. Having always brought the best to the forefront, this festival reinforces Dubai as the emerging global center of innovative design. “This flagship event elevates an ambitious generation of designers from around the world and demonstrates the ingenuity of D3’s creative community,” she adds.
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