• Tashkeel has selected 10 UAE-based artists and designers to spend the next year building their skills and knowledge through training, mentoring, research and the production of innovative and original works.

Dubai, UAE – While celebrating 15 years since its establishment in the UAE., Tashkeel has nurtured and elevated the talents and practice of designers and artists through its Tanween and the Critical Practice Programmes.

Tanween Design Programme

The mission of the Tanween Design Programme is to nurture the ongoing evolution of UAE design by providing one year of fully funded training for a cohort of specially selected professional designers.   In 2023, the Tanween Design Programme enters its 10th edition. Having received 67 applications, 6 design practitioners were chosen: Wafa Al Falahi (UAE); Marwa Abdelrahim (Sudan); Maryam Elattar & Mohamed Elnaggar (Egypt); and Tia Sinclair-Kemp & Chinara Tashmatova (USA/Kazakhstan).

Over the next few months, they will embark on individual journeys to explore the cultural landscape of the UAE and, combined with their multidisciplinary backgrounds, will create functional, sustainable luxury designs.

Since 2011, Tashkeel has enabled 40 designers to embark on professional development training, leading to over 45 prototypes and resulting in over 30 furniture and lighting pieces inspired by, designed, and made in the UAE that are debuted at Dubai Design Week. The outgoing Tanween cohort drew much admiration from visitors at last year’s Downtown Design in November 2022.

Critical Practice Programme

Tashkeel’s Critical Practice Programme, now in its 8th year, welcomes Mouza Al Hamrani (UAE), Maitha Hamdan (UAE), Ji-Hye Kim (South Korea), and Rand Abdul Jabbar (Iraq/Canada).

The Critical Practice Programme (CPP) was introduced in 2014, with an aim to identify emerging artists and to offer them sustained studio support, training, critique and production of up to one year in the UAE. The CPP2023 cohort was carefully selected from a pool of 44 applications from practitioners living and working in the UAE. Each CPP2023 participant will undertake a 12-month programme in 2023, beginning with a series of studio visits, crits and workshops before embarking on an experimental and research period under the guidance of Tashkeel staff and their mentors.  The programme’s final phase includes artwork production, the results of which will be presented in the form of a solo exhibition in 2024.

In speaking about the expectations from this year’s cohorts and the growth of Tashkeel, Deputy Director, Lisa-Ball Lechgar said, “Tashkeel values its legacy of training and development over the last 15 years and shall continue its commitment moving forward. The alumni from our professional development programmes have become leaders in their fields and continue to contribute to the country’s creative and cultural industries as innovators and entrepreneurs..”

The Tanween Design Programme runs from January to November 2023 and the Critical Practice Programme runs from January until December 2023.  The nurturing of UAE-based design and visual art professionals is a key pillar of Tashkeel’s commitment to the sector as it celebrates its 15th anniversary throughout 2023.

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About Tashkeel

Established in Dubai in 2008 by Lateefa bint Maktoum, Tashkeel seeks to provide a nurturing environment for the growth of contemporary art and design practice rooted in the UAE. Through multi-disciplinary studios, work spaces and galleries located in both Nad Al Sheba and Al Fahidi, it enables creative practice, experimentation and dialogue among practitioners and the wider community. Operating on an open membership model, Tashkeel’s annual programme of training, residencies, workshops, talks, exhibitions, international collaborations and publications aims to further practitioner development, public engagement, lifelong learning and the creative and cultural industries.

Tashkeel’s range of initiatives include: Tanween, which takes a selected cohort of emerging UAE-based designers through a nine-month development programme to take a product inspired by the surroundings of the UAE from concept to completion; Critical Practice, which invites visual artists to embark on a one-year development programme of studio practice, mentorship and training that culminates in a major solo presentation; MakeWorks UAE, an online platform [visit make.works] connecting creatives and fabricators to enable designers and artists accurate and efficient access to the UAE manufacturing sector; Exhibitions & Workshops to challenge artistic practice, enable capacity building and grow audience for the arts in the UAE; and the heart of Tashkeel, its Membership, a community of creatives with access to facilities and studio spaces to refine their skills, undertake collaborations and pursue professional careers.

Tashkeel is the winner of the AD Middle East Award for Outstanding Achievement 2021.

Visit tashkeel.org

For press enquiries, please contact: tashkeel@wallispr.com