Four Qatari designers are participating in Design Doha Exchange Qatar | Morocco: Crafting Design Futures, a year-long program that involves a visit to Morocco to collaborate with local artists, designers, and artisans to explore the intersections of cutting-edge design and contemporary craft practices between the two countries, according to a statement released by Qatar Museums.
Four Moroccan artists and designers were also brought to Qatar by the initiative, which is a key component of the first Design Doha biennial and the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture.
In order to interact with their Moroccan counterparts, the participating designers, Reema Abu Hassan, Majdulin Nassrallah, Nada Elkharashi, and Abdulrahman Al Muftah, from Qatar, bring their expertise in ceramic traditions, modern forms, installation and spatial interventions, pigment and natural materials, and upcycling.
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Amine El Gotaibi, Sara Ouhaddou, Bouchra Boudoua, and Hamza Kadiri, artists and designers from Morocco, are investigating a range of fields in Qatar, including woodworking, textiles, ceramic and glass installation work, and ceramics. Their work upholds partnerships with communities of artisans, as well as shared cultural narratives and modern techniques that will enhance the exchange and their residencies. All of the designers also have a strong desire to preserve the languages, communities, stories, typologies, customs, and handcrafted goods in their own contexts and via their own artistic and design endeavors.
In order to support Qatari designers as well as Moroccan and Qatari artists and designers who are creating new work and methods of working across design and craft, Crafting Design Futures seeks to build a network of artists and designers throughout Morocco with active ties to Qatar.
The Crafting Design Futures curator, Gwen Farrelly, stated: “Crafting Design Futures builds a greater understanding of both cultures and ensures that the skills and creative practices that have been instrumental to life in both countries for centuries will continue for generations to come by bringing together these acclaimed designers, artists, and craftspeople from Qatar and Morocco.”
“Crafting Design Futures not only celebrates the vibrant heritage and cultural traditions of Qatar and Morocco through collaboration and exchange, but it also encourages adaptation and innovation in the face of modern challenges,” said Ghada Al Khater, co-curator of the program. By upholding and developing artistic traditions, we create the groundwork for a world in which craftsmanship prospers.
The Design Doha Exchange Crafting Design Futures, which will run through 2024, is being realized in three phases: this month, Moroccan artists and designers are in Qatar for a two-week research residency where they are working at Liwan Design Studios and Labs and Torba Farm; in January, featured Qatar-based designers spent one week in Morocco visiting the cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech, and Fes to engage with the Moroccan artists and designers in their studios.
Additionally, the exchange will climax later this year with an exhibition in Doha called Crafting Design Futures Exhibition Qatar, which will feature new works that come out of the exchange and feature works from all eight participating artists and designers.
Crafting Design Futures is not only a major project in the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture, a cultural partnership aimed at building enduring relationships between the two countries and encouraging tolerance and understanding between various cultural backgrounds, but it is also a component of Design Doha, Qatar’s first design biennial, which serves as an exhibition of excellence and innovation in the country’s and the MENA region’s design community.
