Dubai Culture announces Creative Lab as part of Dubai Design Week 2019

As part of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai’s new cultural vision for the Emirate and his request for all cultural entities in the UAE to work together to enhance synergies and explore new opportunities, Dubai Culture announces Creative Lab as part of Dubai Design Week 2019.

Comprising several public drop-in stations each hosting a different design discipline, the lab will run for the duration of the six-day event. Participating design entities are: Al Ghadeer Crafts, an organisation dedicated to empowering underprivileged women through sustainable crafts who will be hosting live demonstrations with Emirati craftswomen showing the process of Telli embroidery and Sadu and Khoos weaving; Ethan & Co, a UK education consultancy offering an experience with 3D design and printing; OliOli, an interactive children’s museum will host a workshop allowing children to make a simple robot;  Sharabassy Built Environment Studio will introduce participants to 3D digital modelling software; MAS Paints will focus on sustainability via workshops to paint upcycled objects as well as inviting participants to use foliage as painting tools on a mural canvas; social enterprise 81 Designs will be holding Palestinian embroidery (Tatreez) workshops; and A Touch of Clay, will encourage the craft of pottery and ceramics.

Free and open to the public, Creative Lab is designed for amateurs, students and children in particular to explore design and to support the next generation of makers. Crucially, this talent incubator will encourage a spirit of entrepreneurship, opening the sector to more commercially viable opportunities for young creative people. The initiative will allow the public to get involved in design making and will foster an inclusive creative ecosystem, which benefits the entire community.

Dubai Design Week is held in partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), with the strategic support of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) alongside the support of Audi and A.R.M. Holding. It is held under the esteemed patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture. Now in its fifth edition, Dubai Design Week encompasses a range of disciplines including architecture, product design, interiors and multimedia and will offer opportunities for visitors to directly engage with regional talent. The aim of the event is to create a dialogue that affirms Dubai’s status as the region’s creative capital. 

Walid Ahmed, Head of Dubai Art Season commented: “Lending support to the design industry in the UAE and the wider region is a priority for us. It is vital for Dubai Culture to support art institutions and other existing hubs for talent, particularly because they nurture the younger generation and emerging creatives on a wider scope. By supporting institutions, we increase our impact, which will in turn boost the creative economy. Moreover, The Creative Lab gives us a valuable opportunity to enable cultural and artistic entrepreneurship in the country, which is essential for the future of the industry as a whole. With our many different initiatives throughout the year, it is our mission to establish Dubai as a global, creative, and sustainable city in the sectors of culture, heritage, arts and literature, therefore bringing happiness to Dubai’s society.”