Jordanian design week showcases oasis of Arab talent

Designed to display the creative talents of Jordanian and Arab designers, Amman Design Week (ADW), a nine-day festival hosted in Jordan’s capital, brought more than 100 local and regional designers together.

Rounding up on Sept. 9, the event sought to showcase the immense talent that exists in the Arab world.

Supported by Jordan’s Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Amman Design Week offered more than 100 activities, exhibitions, workshops, guided tours, and talks in 40 different spaces around the capital. The event presented works from various design fields such as architecture, furniture, fashion, crafts, and digital technologies.

The exhibitions featured designers from numerous Arab countries, including Jordan, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and Morocco.

With the aim of creating an oasis for design thinking and creativity, Amman Design Week strove to empower designers and provide an opportunity for learning, exchange, and collaboration among various groups of people.

The event’s co-Director Rana Beiruti says ADW will expose Jordanians to the “enormous” capabilities of the Jordanian youth, adding it will elevate Jordanian designers on the international podium, while opening doors of communication and exchange of expertise with their intercontinental peers, the Jordan Times reported.

ADW, which more than 10,000 visitors are expected to attend, also provided specialized activities for children and young people, including workshops in crafts, as well as hands-on events focused on the exploration of different materials and tools.

Following the launch of Amman Design Week last week, Jordan’s Queen Rania posted on her official Instagram account: “Wonderful to see designers from Jordan and the region come together for the first edition of Amman Design Week.”

Many of the designers have been preparing for the event over the past several months, ecstatic to finally see their work featured in the event.

Designer Raya Kassisieh said: “As an Arab designer, specifically a Jordanian-Palestinian designer, I think Amman Design week is an extremely important step to get the Levant area and Jordan in specific on the map of the design world. We are joining a really big movement and making a name for ourselves in the design industry internationally.”

Kassisieh added: “It’s also pushing the world to see that the designers in Jordan and regionally have so much to give and show, even those who live outside the Middle East that have Arab heritage. So it’s been a beautiful fusion of new and young designers, as well as established designers internationally who are of Arab background, to feature their work and showcase how much can come out of us as a people. I hope visitors from design week help us spread the word about how much talent is harbored in our region.”

Visitor to Amman Design Week and art enthusiast Zain Tarawneh said: “It’s inspiring to see many diverse artists from different Arab countries come together, and to see art being celebrated, all in one place in Jordan.”

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