Dubai Design Week and Downtown Design | November 12-17, 2018 | Events and Exhibitions

Oct 28, 2018 | Exhibitions & Events

This November, the region’s most anticipated Design Week will take place.

Dubai Design Week continues to grow, cementing Dubai as the design capital of the Middle East
* The region’s largest creative festival returns this year from 12-17 November 2018
* The free-to-attend program will comprise more than 230 events throughout Dubai Design District (d3) and across the city
* With +120 institutions participating, the 2018 edition will see a 20% growth since last year’s event

Taking place at locations across the city, this year’s program will be the most comprehensive to date, with more than 120 companies participating and 230 events taking place, encompassing exhibitions, commissioned installations, awards and competitions, talks and workshops, tours and experiences for design enthusiasts and public visitors alike.

Dubai Design Week will this year launch its first app, allowing visitors to create personalised schedules on the go based on preferences and interests and to be the first to get notified of must-attend launches and events.

Coinciding with the event, this November will see the official opening of the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai’s first contemporary arts museum, the inaugural Fikra Graphic Design Biennial in Sharjah, the first of its kind in the region, and a range of activities staged at Alserkal Avenue, reinforcing November as the annual focal point for design and creativity in Dubai.

Highlights of Dubai Design Week 2018 at d3
Exhibitions and Pop-ups

For the first time, this year Dubai Design Week partners with social networking giant Facebook through a real-world activation set in within the heart of Dubai Design District (d3). Customized workshops and knowledge sharing activities have been specially devised to celebrate the Arab creative community. Facebook’s 6-day physical presence will showcase how people can use the platform to connect and build communities in memorable, creative and responsible ways.

An exhibition highlighting eight of the brightest Emirati talents from across the country, UAE Design Stories: The Next Generation from The Emirates is a vehicle for generating awareness on the emerging creative profiles from the UAE.

Enabling UAE design since 2008, design-incubator Tashkeel will present ‘Design+Making UAE’; a destination for those curious about the local design ecosystem, exploring design practice in the UAE from concept to completion.

The roadshow exhibition ‘Original Comes from Vitra’ consists of series of booths, each dedicated to telling the story of a Vitra original. Each booth will narrate the history of the product with drawings, sketches and photographs of prototypes. Examples include some of world’s most iconic pieces of furniture; the Panton chair, the Standard chair by Jean Prouve and the Lounge Chair by Charles & Ray Eames.

DRAK, the design collective based in Dubai’s Ras Al Khor community will be conducting a community initiative titled ‘From RAK to DRAK’ where three designers, Amal Haliq, Faissal El-Malak and Khalid Mezaina, will focus on three commercial outlets from the neighbourhood.

ProtoPieces is an exhibition of furniture work designed by 12 students of the College of Architecture Art and Design (CAAD) at the American University of Sharjah.

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