Design Doha: Celebrating MENA’s Design Scene
afikra was delighted to collaborate with Design Doha to produce a mini podcast-series to mark the inaugural edition of the Biennial. Here, you’ll find the links to listen to each of the episodes and a short introduction to what the design festival is all about.
Design Doha: A New Design Biennial for the MENA Region
Organized by Qatar Museums, Design Doha is a new Biennial that showcases the current design landscape in the MENA region. At its heart, this biennale is about celebrating and fostering innovation.
This February, the Biennal’s inaugural edition kicked off with a week-long opening event featuring exhibitions, discussions and other activities dedicated to spotlighting MENA’s vibrant and growing design scene. Design Doha is ongoing until August 2024.
The Design Doha x afikra Podcast
Both those able to experience the Biennial and those enjoying it from afar are able to dive deeper into the festival with the Design Doha podcast. Powered and hosted by afikra, the Design Doha podcast features three interviews intended to give further context on the purpose and mission of the design festival, and spotlight a couple of the artists who are presenting their work there. In this section, you’ll find the links to each episode with a short description of what they cover.
Platforming Regional Design Excellence at Design Doha – interview with Fahad Al Obaidly
Our Design Doha mini podcast series launched with a live-recorded conversation with the Biennial’s deputy director Fahad Al Obaidly. In this interview, Al Obaidly gives us insight into Design Doha’s core mission and the need to create a platform that specifically spotlights MENA design. He tells about what it means to “celebrate regional design excellence” in practice, how they approached curating the biennial, and the health of the current design landscape in the Arab world.
Innovating Design with Beouin Traditions – interview with Abeer Seikaly
Jordanian-Palestinian architect Abeer Seikaly, whose work was featured as part of Design Doha, invites us into her creative practice. She sat down for a live-recording with afikra to explain how she rethinks and innovates the notion of “shelter” while centering indigenous Bedouin practices. She explains how she seeks to draw inspiration from traditional knowledge in the Arab homeland to create social technologies for cultural empowerment and defines the concept of “fabric architecture”.
Reinventing Spaces With Concrete Furniture – interview with Carlo Massoud
In the final episode of the Design Doha podcast, Carlo Massoud lets us into his joint creative practice with his sister Mary-Lynn. He explains how they create organic forms and homeware out of man-made materials and the central role that the city of Beirut plays in facilitating their creative output.
What is Design Doha?
Design Doha is a landmark biennale dedicated to creative innovation. It will foster the design culture of the MENA region and create a space of design excellence in Qatar.
Design Doha will be an elevating movement, serving as a dedicated platform for fostering creativity and design excellence. It provides creatives and institutions with a space to showcase their designs and ideas. This biennale is committed to offering tangible and authentic solutions, showcasing the richness of MENA culture and creativity, while highlighting the exceptional design environment of Qatar on the global stage.