The Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated Authority for culture, arts, and heritage; Tashkeel, an independent resource for artists and designers in the UAE, and the Creative Dialogue Association (CDA), a private independent and not-for-profit organisation, based in Barcelona, have selected four Emirati designers to attend the inaugural six-month Design Road Professional programme.
The Design Road Professional programme builds on the Authority’s collaboration on the 2011 Design Road workshops and exhibitions, which were aimed at encouraging intercultural dialogue and creative exchange between local and international designs.
The four participants include furniture and objects designer Khalid Shafar, graphic and fashion designer Aljoud Lootah, visual artist Zeinab Al Hashemi, and computational artist and designer Salem Al Mansoori.
Aimed at nurturing and fostering the talent of aspiring Emirati designers through hands-on training and knowledge transfer, the four Emirati designers will undertake extensive training across the various facets of design, in Dubai, London, and Barcelona, from September 2012 to March 2013.
Over the course of the programme, the selected designers will participate in Inspirational Trips, Educational Programmes, Professional Shadowing Programmes, and Proposal Development, in collaboration with Kingston University, Elisava Design School and ADIFAD, culminating with the production and showcase of their final products in the field of design at Art Week 2013 in Dubai.
Khalil Abdulwahid, Manager of Visual Arts, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, said: “The selected designers for the inaugural Design Road Professional reflect the diversity of talent that Dubai has and fosters. Through this initiative, we aim to nurture the skills of these designers, thereby strengthening their talent to further contribute to Dubai’s evolving design landscape.”
Approaching design with personal expression of form, movement, emotion, and in particular, ‘the tale’ of objects, designer Khalid Shafar has exhibited his works in numerous design shows across the world, including Next Generation Tradeshow in Berlin, Tokyo Designers Week, Inspirationalists at The Pavilion, Design Days Dubai, and Milan Design Week, among others.
Graphic and fashion designer, and founder of the home-grown brand Niftee, Aljoud Lootah’s handmade limited edition apparel and accessories clearly reiterate her inspiration of traditional Arabian design with a contemporary twist. Aljoud works with a number of clients, and recently collaborated with international brand Repetto to design ballerina shoes.
Visual artist Zeinab Al Hashmi specialises in multimedia design, exploring the city’s current art scene. Zeinab aspires to create visuals that narrate a story, by incorporating elements from popular culture, commercial products, thereby creating contemporary art that is rooted in Emirati design heritage.
Salem Al Mansoori, a computational artist and designer, participated in numerous design and arts exhibitions including the United Nation’s ITU World Youth Forum, representing the UAE, the Emirates Fine Arts Society’s Collective Narrative, and MinD 2011 – City’s Dialogue Exhibition with an art project entitled Pattern Systems.
For more information, please contact Dubai Culture on email at artsServices@dubaiculture.ae or call 04 8004003 or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DubaiCultureArtsAuthority) or Twitter (@Dubai_Culture)
