Celebrating Contemporary Arab Design

As a new platform for local, regional and global design excellence, Design Doha will present exhibitions, commissions and associated programming every two years, providing an ongoing focus for the rising energy of Qatar’s creative sector.

For this year’s inaugural edition, the exhibition programme will be headlined by Arab Design Now, a survey of contemporary design from the region. Curated by Rana Beiruti, co-founder of Amman Design Week, the exhibition examines how local and regional designers balance contemporary design with traditional methods, with a particular focus on environmental concerns and sustainable design.

Presented at M7, in the heart of Msheireb, the works included in Arab Design Now encompass a variety of disciplines, from architectural installations and material research to furniture, textiles and graphic design.

Featuring works by designers from the Levant, the Gulf and North Africa, Arab Design Now showcases multiple approaches to design. It celebrates the diversity of the Arab identity, which is shaped by a fusion of cultures, traditions, languages and beliefs, while also seeking to map commonalities that exist across the region. This includes the way designers respond to the unique geographies of the Arab world, to their material and craft sensibilities that centre Arab values of community and co-creation, and to the revival and reinvention of heritage-based practices using modern technologies and materials.