ANNUAL FAIR DESIGN DAYS DUBAI GATHERING WORKS OF PERSPECTIVE YOUNG DESIGNERS, INSPIRES, STRENGTHENS USE OF THE NEWEST TECHNOLOGIES AND PRODUCTION OF MODERN DESIGNER FURNITURE IN EMIRATES. WE OFFER A REVIEW OF THE UPCOMING EXHIBITION TO BE HELD IN D3 C 14 TO MARCH 17.
Design as a state of mind
Undoubtedly, Design Days Dubai in Dubai, the most respected event in the Middle East and South Asia related to furniture and interior design, has been the main design speaker in the Emirates for about six years. Last year, the fair broke another attendance record - 13,500 visitors. The guest stars were 185 design apologists from 37 countries who presented 750 exhibits - interior design, lighting, furniture and home accessories. “Before Design Days Dubai, furniture design was not the most important area in the UAE. The fair gave collection design a special status and importance,” says Ayia Nakkash, owner of the Nakkash Gallery. “Today, the exhibition is an excellent platform for new works and seminars for designers. the so-called “design of the young generation” is developing. ”
Few people know that the curators of Design Days Dubai decided to focus their attention on a non-profit program consisting of training seminars, workshops and design installations. For the sixth time, the fair has never tire of proving that it always has a fresh look at any thing - from advertising to furniture design, and proclaims color, contrast, minimalism of perfection and truly homeliness (the price range for furniture ranges from 500 up to 75 thousand dollars). By the way, this year new participants from the UAE appeared: AYAH AL BITAR, AYKA DESIGN, CARPETS CC, JAFAR DAJANI, ALSO APICAL REFORM (INDIA), MARIE MUNIER (LEBANON) AND DAHR DESIGN (SAUDI ARABIA).
Face control
For the first time since the founding of Design Days Dubai with a light hand gallery MCML STUDIO viewers will see retro objects telling about the post-war period in the design of the 50s and 70s - the era of dreams, hope and optimism, when after the global crisis the world began to recover and rethink values. And as an alternative to retro furniture, the curators of the exhibition invited a star of French design, a sculptor JERALDIN GONZALEZ, which will arrive in Dubai for the first time to present its new Flying Chair installation. Initially, Geraldine specialized in creating dresses and surreal installations from light bulbs and paper, more reminiscent of jellyfish. However, in a great design, the girl managed to pave the way with the help of the luxury cosmetics brand Guerlain, turning the windows of her shops into fantastic scenery. After that, the French brand Baccarat invited her among ten artists to create a collection of Femmes de Lumiere.
This season, a lot of talk about the fashion for ceramic and glass vases of the Irish ceramist MICHAEL RICEliving in the Emirates. In his works, he explores shapes, textures, and surfaces. Michael was named a finalist in 2016 THE VAN CLEEF & ARPELS MIDDLE EAST EMERGENT DESIGNER PRIZE - Everyone remembered his crystal vase, inspired by spiral shapes in a pearl shell, a DNA spiral and rippling sand on the beach.
By tradition, the New York Design Gallery TODD MERRILL STUDIO, founded in 2000, will delight those who care about the work of designers Sophie Corindon, Marcus Xase, Molly Hatch, Jake Phipps, Erina Sullivan and finally the irish designer NIAM BARRY, which produces a limited series of sculptures and lamps from mirrors, bronze, magnets, porcelain, Murano glass and powerful LED-LEDs. “We’ll show Niam Barry’s new brainchild - a work of Walking made of bronze, glass and LEDs that repeats the silhouette of a person in motion,” said Todd Merrill, gallery owner TODD MERRILL STUDIO. The designer’s works are thought out to the smallest detail and embody the essential features of the 21st century, they always fascinate the audience and never disappoint. "
The Fellowship of the Ring
What you need to know about parametric design, one of the most important areas of Design Days Dubai? Modern technologies open up new prospects for the exhibition, turning to mathematics and geometry: the ball and the use of solar energy, and the dynamic "liquid" structure of the facade, and furniture created using digital technologies - a 3D printer, CNC machines, 3D laser engraver - rules here. allowing pretty quickly to create fashionable tables, chairs, lamps and vases from wood, steel, leather and glass. Design Days Dubai organizers give 3D and 2D design to the multidisciplinary designer ALUD LUTAH, the founder of the Niftee brand, which at its seminars teaches students to feel the form, architecture, functionality of things at the level of aesthetic perception. By the way, in 2013, the designer was awarded the Young Designer of The Year Award nomination at the annual Arab Woman Awards UAE ceremony.
Anyone who seriously intends to study contemporary design, it's time to think about furniture with a British accent. Talented British designers caught our eye PHILIPPE MICHAEL WOLFSON, MAX LAMB, BRODY NEILL, AMY JAY HUGHES AND BETHAN GRAY. Without their gizmos, no modern home in the Emirates can be considered fully equipped. Keep in mind: over the past 5 years, Stars of more than 40 British designers and brands have lit up at Design Days Dubai, now they have the chance to succeed in the Emirates, and financial risk, according to critics, is minimized.
We also recommend that you pay close attention to the Lebanese carpet gallery. IWAN MAKTABI, which opened in 1995. She relies on the work of the Colombian weaver Jorge Lisaraso, who worked with Fuchsas Massimiliano himself, an Italian architect (he reconstructed the building of the former Military Union in Rome). Recently, Jorge returned to Bogotá from France to create the highest quality carpets, and his ambitions are not without foundation.
Design Days Dubai is an excellent venue for aspiring Middle Eastern designers. It is known that in 2015, works from the debut collection of designer Aloud Lutah were purchased in the collection of the Museum of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and last year two works by Amar Kahlo were included in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. Raising your ability to find design stars in a real cult, using the Design Days Dubai, chandeliers, armchairs, mirrors of the Lebanese Joy Mardini Gallery and David Nicolas brand tables are sold like hot cakes and go to the pages of the foreign press. “Design Days Dubai provides an opportunity for all participants and design studios to showcase their collections on the global design stage,” says Ravan Kashkush, director of Design Days Dubai. “Our annual forum of designers gives collectors the opportunity to purchase beautiful works, real finds that you won’t see on other exhibitions. " And, believe me, it’s worth a lot.
Text: Igor Shevkun
