Dubai Design Week’s Head of Programming, Rawan Kashkoush is set to participate in a new initiative launched by the team behind Amman Design Week; a pilot version of a six-week course titled “Introduction to Curating Contemporary Design in the Middle East”.
The course, taking place in Amman 1 April - 15 May brings together local and regional curators and designers to facilitate discussions with sixteen selected participants on the nature of curating, with a specific focus on contemporary design in the context of the Middle East. Participants will be exposed to curatorial approaches from across the region with contributors from Egypt, the Gulf, Lebanon and representing institutions such as museums, galleries and design weeks.
The course signals a commitment in the region to supporting local talent and increasing the understanding of curating contemporary design, feeding into the Middle East’s network of design bodies and organisers brought together as part of the course. Rawan Kashkoush, who is also the curator of the leading showcase of regional design talent Abwab, is due to conduct a seminar named ‘Curate, Produce and Repeat: Curating an annual exhibition’ offering an alternative perspective from a neighboring design week. Abwab merges architectural experiments with interactive experiences and contemporary design showcases, the seminar will move through the 3 years of the exhibition as a case-study of purpose and production.
Kashkoush said ‘This is an important time to be involved in curating design in the region, with talent being harnessed from across the Middle East. Bringing curators and organisations together to foster a new perspective on design to be interpreted, communicated and framed for growing audiences, helps to develop recognition for design talent and potential’.,
As part of the of this commitment a number of public sessions are being held. These include talks run by Huda Abi Fares of the Khatt Foundation (16 April) and Junia Elli Jorgi, National Gallery of Canada (26 April). More information is available on the Amman Design Week website