Third Edition of Design Days Dubai Draws Global Industry Elite with an Innovative Public Programme for 2014 145 designers represented through gallery installations, new exhibiting platforms, talks, and workshops – showcasing the best of local, regional, and international talent. The highly-anticipated third edition of Design Days Dubai is set to give visitors a design experience like no other; with direct access to prominent local and international designers and industry leaders, visitors will have exclusive opportunities to experience innovative works from the world of modern and contemporary design.
The latest edition of Design Days Dubai hopes to generate at least US$2 million in sales and attracting 12,000 visitors over five days.
Taking place at Emaar’s custom-built location at ‘The Venue, Downtown Dubai,’ at the base of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building from 17-21 March, Design Days Dubai will be home to prominent design galleries from the world over. With 40 exhibitors and four design brands from 20 countries– this year’s edition welcomes first-time exhibitors from Algeria, Austria, China, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, and Portugal. The 2014 programme will showcase over 700 works from 145 designers – making it the world’s most diverse design event. A stand-out booth of the 2014 edition, Paris and London-based Carpenters Workshop Gallery will be working in association with famed Parisian antiques dealer, Steinitz, in order to recreate a wonderfully-detailed collector’s apartment, which will instantly transport visitors to another world. Guests can explore the three re-created rooms of wooden paneled-walls and high ceilings, with rare antiques from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries alongside todays contemporary design from leading designers such as Maarten Baas, Wendell Castle, Rick Owens, and Frederick Molenshot.
The fair has seen industry heavy-weights participate, including Southern Guild from South Africa, Korean _Croft Gallery, Californian-based Industry Gallery, and Victor Hunt from Belgium return, joined by Galerie Yves Gastou with their 20th-century avant-garde design, for the very first time. 2014 Design Days Dubai Highlights Several installation works and live performances will challenge perceptions on the understanding of design; with works by Tom Price, Michael Anastassiades, Giles Miller Studio, Benjamin Muzzin, and Elaine NG Yanling, as well as Chen Chen and Kai Williams, and gt2p (Great Things to People). A sketching robotic arm, TheObsessiveDrafter, located at the entrance to the fair designed by Guillaume Crédoz and Nareg Karaoghlanian, is sure captivate visitors on arrival.
During Design Days Dubai 2014 the machine will draw a 7m x 3m mural over five continuous days. Every time a human interrupts it, TheObsessiveDrafter will pause its work on the large piece, establish eye contact, and then draw the person, before continuing the main work. TheObsessiveDrafter is at risk of not having time to finish the main work, the machine groans at the disturbances. Photo-Mahsoom
For Naqsh design house based in Amman, Jordan, the inspiration stems from both contemporary and traditional Arabic aesthetics, combined together with a high quality of local neat craftsmanship. Naqsh design house supports the women community in the Palestinian refugee camps in Amman,by creating opportunities through (Thawrat Turath collection).
In Dubai Design Days 2014 Naqsh Design House will introduce a group of leading designers from Jordan with their special designed pieces for the event, all produced and finished with local labour and craftsmanship from Amman.
The longevity and ready availability of the industrially manufactured materials used to construct the installation stands in stark contrast to the ephemerality and natural beauty of the cherry trees and blossoms that it echoes. The pipes have to be bent individually, a laborious task employing a combination of heat and ropes to contort them into interesting shapes. The blossom is made from thousands and thousands of sections of pipe, which are individually cut then arranged on a specially constructed hot plate and partially melted on one side. This turns them into semi-flexible sheets that can be twisted, curved and fixed to the branches of the trees.
FN Designs (Dubai) will be showing the works of 10 UAE-based designers, as part of a ’10-100-1000′ initiative: 10 designers to produce 100 wooden stools, which will then be sold for $1,000. Tashkeel (Dubai) has challenged three young Emirati designers (Latifa Saeed, Salem Al-Mansoori, and Zeinab Alhashemi) to each develop a range of products to be exhibited at Design Days Dubai. Tashkeel has also partnered with Van Cleef & Arpels to present the annual The Middle East Emergent Artist Prize, in collaboration with Design Days Dubai; the competition was for regional artists to submit work under a theme of ‘Turning Point’, with the winning piece to be displayed at the Van Cleef & Arpels booth.
The Agence Algérienne pour le Rayonnement Culturel (AARC) is at Design Days Dubai for the first time; showcasing works from nine young Algerian designers with a fresh take on contemporary design, using leather, wood and copper as materials.
Design Days Dubai is offering a schedule of compelling sessions with some of design’s most influential figures, produced in partnership with the fair’s strategic partner, the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, and with the support of d3 Dubai Design District.
A key attraction of the 2014 line-up, the public programme of talks, workshops, and panels provides an opportunity to engage with world-renowned designers, including India Mahdavi, Rick Owens, Giles Miller, Andy Martin, among others. With an increased number of daily sessions open to the public, the 2014 programme offers design experts, enthusiasts, and newcomers a chance to step into the realm of pioneering design.
For the first time, returning Design Days Dubai sponsor, the French high-jewelry maison, Van Cleef & Arpels, will be inviting visitors to register for a workshop to experience the art of mock-up making – giving insight into the rich history of the maison’s jewelry métiers. In addition, returning sponsor Audi will also have an enhanced booth at this year’s fair, showcasing the best of German engineering and design. The programme also includes workshops by Dutch designer Rolf Bruggink, using traditional saucers; Casting Planters by New-York based Chen Chen and Kai Williams, an introduction to Paracrafting design by Chilean gt2p, contemporary carpet making by German Silvia Knüppel as well as film screenings of works from ten contemporary British craft businesses, brought by the Crafts Council; and a hands-on 3D modelling workshop lead by Emirati designer Aljoud Lootah.
