On 25 January 2024, Qatar Museums 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, co-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.
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.
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 artist and 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, recited and 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.
Celebrating the brilliance of Arabic graphic design, 100/100 HUNDRED BEST ARABIC POSTERS, 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 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.
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.
Source and Cover Image: Press Release
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