Tashkeel’s Tanween design programme has announced the selected emerging designers who through the course of 2019 will embark on a journey of investigation, learning and making, covering the entire arc of developing a product from concept to completion. The final limited-edition pieces will be globally unveiled during Dubai Design Week 2019.

Experts in the design field will guide the selected UAE-based designers, architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib, as they evolve their creative vocabulary, marrying it with the knowledge and skills they gain throughout the 2019 Tanween Design programme.

Established in 2013, Tanween is a professional development programme for UAE-based emerging designers, makers and artisans, providing access to a wide range of resources unique to the UAE, from locally based manufacturers, fabricators and artisans from Tashkeel’s Make Works UAE public platform to myriad materials, including textiles wood and marble.

Presenting work of Alya Sultan Al Eghfeli, Hala Al Ani, Myrtille Labrune-Ronteix and Renad Hussein, at Downtown Design in November 2018, Tanween’s 2017-18 programme demonstrated the diversity of creative thought in the UAE.

Be it a table inspired by the importance of community, a light fixture that balanced modernity with traditional technique’s or a lamp derived from the everyday ritual of serving Arabic coffee, last year’s participants applied contemporary design to cultural storytelling, delivering an evocative showcase of regional design that offered a thought-provoking glimpse into their future designers, and indeed that of the UAE’s design scene.

Through a series of laboratory sessions, site visits to the region’s most innovative manufacturers and collaborative practice, the mentors will offer participating designers’ critique on design, feedback on manufacturing, help them investigate new business models and ultimately empower them to develop their own sense of individuality as designers.

  • Abdulla Al Mulla
  • Lana El Samman
  • Yara Habib

This sixth edition of Tanween will culminate in a showcase within Downtown Editions, the new fair section of Downtown Design, during Dubai Design Week 2019 in November.

"There is nowhere more fitting than Downtown Editions to launch the latest pieces of the Tanween Collection by Tashkeel. Inspired by, designed and made in the UAE, the presence of the Tanween Collection at Downtown Editions each year marks the culmination of the Tanween professional development programme, giving emerging product designers the chance to debut their work in front of a truly international audience. Tashkeel looks forward to Downtown Editions 2019 and the release of new limited-edition pieces by its latest Tanween cohort Abdalla Almulla, Yara Habib and Lana El Samman,” said Lisa Ball-Lechgar, Deputy Director of Tashkeel.

Find out more about Downtown Editions and how to apply to exhibit here.