Press Release
Tashkeel opens doors for talented designers in the UAE for
upcoming design programme
2014-15 Design Programme in partnership with PAL Labs
Dubai, United Arab Emirates; May 13, 2014: Tashkeel announces this year’s design programme that
engages designers, makers and artisans living and working in the UAE to develop a range of
products that work towards defining a design, aesthetic and production process that is innately
from the emirates. Harnessing the cross-cultural range of skills and materials to be found in the
region, the programme is based on a long-term experimental process involving an annual rotation
of selected participants that will run this year from June 2014 through to Design Days Dubai 2015.
The programme will run in collaboration with PAL Labs, the UK’s leading and most established
organization for lab based processes designed to facilitate the creation of new, innovative work by
designers and makers. It will consist of a series of two-day workshops led by established designers
and curators over the course of nine months. Participants will work in a combination of group, pair
and individual work which will involve experimental and collaborative practice, constructive
critical feedback as well as investigating new business models. There will be a continuous
evaluation of the process throughout the programme.
“Tashkeel has been a prominent figure within the UAE’s cultural infrastructure in supporting, at a
grass roots level, locally based artists and designers. This initiative continues to endorse our ongoing programme and facilitates a sustained cultural exchange as well as develops an appreciation
both nationally and internationally for home-grown talents from the Emirates,” says Anabelle de
Gersigny, Tashkeel’s Strategy and Partnership Development Manager.
A total of three designers will be selected by a committee of internationally established experts in
the contemporary design field, including: Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum in London;
design historian, curator and gallerist Libby Sellers; Emirati designer Khalid Shafar; and artist
Lateefa bint Maktoum, Founder and Director of Tashkeel.
Key members of the design community will oversee the laboratories, providing guidance and
expertise to the programme participants. These include founders of London-based Studio Glithero,
Tim Simpson and Sarah van Gameren; Fi Scott, founder of Make Works - an independent design-led
organisation aimed at boosting local production of high quality works in Scotland; Royal College of
Art curator Amanda Game, who holds over thirty years of experience working alongside
commercial, museum and non-profit spaces in Scotland and the wider UK. Emirati designer Khalid
Shafar, who opened his own gallery KASA in Dubai to showcase his designs, will be acting as
ongoing mentor for the participants, sharing his expertise and knowledge of production processes
and aesthetic trends in the UAE.
“PAL Labs prides itself on being a crucible for talent development, and for developing innovative
collaborative approaches to developing new work and new ideas. We are extremely proud to be
working with such a respected organisation dedicated to supporting artists and designers in the
UAE. I am very excited by the process that we have designed to support artists and designers from
the UAE and hugely looking forward to the developing cross-cultural dialogue and ideas that will
come
from
this
exchange.”
Roanne
Dods,
Artistic
Director,
PAL
Labs.
For information on how to apply, please email anabelle_gersigny@tashkeel.org with DESIGN
PROGRAMME in the subject or see the attached call with further key information.
-EndsAbout Tashkeel
Established in 2008 by Lateefa bint Maktoum, Tashkeel is an independent contemporary art organisation
based in Dubai committed to facilitating art and design practice, creative experimentation and cross-cultural
dialogue.
Placing the artist at the core, Tashkeel supports the UAE’s creative community through studio facilities,
artists’ residencies, international fellowships, a programme of exhibitions, events and professional as well as
recreational workshops.
Tashkeel currently runs up to three residencies a year, along with 6 residencies in conjunction with partner
entities - Delfina Foundation London, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority and Art Dubai. Encouraging the
exchange of ideas between international and local practitioners, the non-prescriptive and process-based
nature of the residencies allows visiting artists to develop projects in response to their new context, or to
conduct research benefiting from Tashkeel’s resources. Tashkeel’s on-site facilities include darkrooms, photo
studio, digital labs, printing studios, textile studios and 3D workshops. Residencies generally culminate in an
exhibition, accompanied by activities such as talks and seminars, aiming to introduce the general public to
international artists and their practice.
Tashkeel’s exhibition space accommodates up to six main projects a year, as well as a series of small-scale
events. The programme includes solo and thematic exhibitions, screenings, workshops and seminars,
fulfilling Tashkeel’s commitment to bringing art and culture to a wider audience and engaging the local
community.
About PAL Labs
PAL Labs have 25 years of experience of designing and facilitating collaborative multi-disciplinary processes
(laboratories) with individuals and organisations to enable people from all creative disciplines and practices
to develop brave new work, generate new deep ideas and new approaches to their practice. PAL Labs offer
designers, artists and other creative people time and space to ask bold questions, to push the limits of what
they know, to reflect, to explore and experiment with radical ideas and creative practice. We have worked
with Contemporary Applied Arts, NESTA, Royal Society for Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, Tramway,
Siobhan Davies Studio, Sony Pictures Entertainment, UK Film Council, British Council and many others.