Central to Iwan Maktabi’s design philosophy is the fusion of tradition with innovation, achieved through collaborations with artists, designers and architects who share the brand’s vision of pushing creative boundaries. “By collaborating with talented individuals, we break free from conventional norms,” explains Maktabi. The result is a marriage of traditional motifs and techniques with modern twists, creating a new visual language that breathes life into age-old craft. The collaboration with Emirati artist Noor Al Suwaidi exemplifies this commitment: Iwan Maktabi re-interpreted the artist’s artworks in a mixed medium of kilim and shaggy carpets using recycled yarn, renewing the visual language and adding a new dimension to textile handcrafted art. This innovative approach showcases the seamless integration of contemporary artistry with traditional craftsmanship, highlighting endless possibilities for artistic expression in carpets and textiles.

Iwan Maktabi showroom in Al Serkal Avenue, Dubai

Creativity fuels Iwan Maktabi’s approach: “It drives our passion for redefining carpets as art pieces.” This blend of creativity and craftsmanship is evident in every intricate detail of the brand’s designs, blurring the line between craft, design and art. Looking ahead, Iwan Maktabi envisions a future where carpet design transcends boundaries, embracing new technologies, sustainable practices and cultural influences. “We envision the future of carpet design as a dynamic fusion of innovation, sustainability and cultural influences,” says Maktabi. This forward-thinking approach ensures the company’s craft remains relevant and impactful. To aspiring designers and artists, Maktabi offers sage advice: “Embrace curiosity, fearlessness and dedication to your craft. Challenge norms, push boundaries and let your imagination soar.” Collaboration, inspiration and the transformative power of creativity are key ingredients for impactful designs in carpet-making and textile art. Maktabi’s journey exemplifies the merging of tradition with innovation, pushing creative boundaries and redefining the status quo in design. The brand’s legacy of creativity and craftsmanship serves as a beacon for designers and artists worldwide.

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In the same vein, our cover story features the remarkable Khalid Shafar, an Emirati designer whose work beautifully intertwines local culture and crafts with contemporary aesthetics. His designs, both functional and creative, resonate deeply, reflecting a harmonious blend of past and present. Alongside Khalid, we spotlight a curated selection of craftworkers from the Gulf, each infusing their creations with their own distinctive third-culture sensibilities.

In our design focus segment, we consult architects, interior designers, furniture designers & interior stylists to share invaluable insights into harmoniously integrating cherished crafts with modern aesthetics, offering you inspiration to craft your own unique living spaces. 

Venturing into the realm of interiors, we invite you to explore Dubai home where opulence meets elegance, and where spaces are designed to inspire.

As you immerse yourself in the pages of this issue, I invite you to celebrate the transformative power of craftsmanship and the artisans who continue to push boundaries. Here’s to embracing the beauty of design – wherever it may lead us.

Read the May 2024 ‘The Craft Issue’  issue online here.

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His studio, Fabraca, is nestled in Sed Bouchrieh, Beirut’s industrial quarter which is home to many of the city’s craftsmen, whose specialisms range from metalwork to carpentry and textiles. From there, he works with a team of 12 craftsmen, mechanical engineers and architects on lighting projects in Lebanon and overseas, including the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and the development of Qasr al Hosn in Abu Dhabi. “People tend to think that artisans and craftsmanship are dying out because of the ways in which we use technology and mass production in design,” he says. “But the marriage between computer-generated designs and artisanal work is possible.” 

Among his more recent designs, ‘Light Impact’ (2022) is a contemporary rendition of the chandelier that mimics the fluid movement of a rope. It was designed for Karim Bekdache Studio, an architectural practice overlooking the Beirut port, to replace a blown glass collectible chandelier that had shattered during the August 4th explosion.  

“We tried to achieve the elegance of a chandelier with something as strong and robust as aluminium,” Saadeh explains. The lighting frame is composed of modular aluminium cylinders that are connected by a spherical joint. “The mechanisms connecting one piece and the other achieve this rope-like effect. If another blast were to happen, the piece would withstand the shock because it is so flexible.”  

Each of the aluminium cylinders and connecting joints was hand-made in Fabraca’s studio. Saadeh developed the design with a team that includes mechanical engineers and metalworkers. “The engineering part that connects the pieces was computer-generated. We drew everything on a programme before going on to prototyping and going to the artisans with our drawings,” he shares.  

Functionality is key to Fabraca’s approach. The studio’s latest project, ‘Belt Track’ (2022), is a series of manually adjustable and attachable lighting frames which was developed for Qasr Al Hosn’s upcoming cooking school at Erth. For this, Saadeh created lighting frames that are strapped onto the building’s air conditioning vents pipes. “Air conditioning vents exist in every indoor space in the UAE. We tried to clean up the ceiling by integrating the lighting and ventilation layers,” he explains. “Now you have less visible wiring, and a minimalist treatment of the ceiling.” The model is flexible and easily scalable to fit the size of the space. “This gives the architect or the user a lot of flexibility,” he adds. 

Saadeh sees it as Fabraca’s mission to support local Lebanese craftsmanship, at a time when the country is experiencing economic and political collapse. He first encountered the industrious but fragile world of Beirut’s craftsmen in 2013, when he was freelancing from a metalworks factory. “The artisans could produce such exclusive and beautiful detailing, but they weren’t updating their product. They were still making things in the baroque style,” he says. “They hadn’t passed on the craft to their children. I really felt like we were losing these crafts.”  

When he established his own studio in 2018, he recruited many of these craftsmen, who had been left jobless after the factory’s closure. Today, he employs a small team of metalworkers from the area and is also producing leather and blown glass products. His Jellyfish collection of mouth-blown glass light bulbs uses two layers of ribbed and tinted glass. Saddle, a wall-mounted light with a cone-shaped lampshade, was developed for a restaurant in Abu Dhabi, and includes a braided leather handle that allows the lamp to rotate. 

While Saadeh insists that his approach to crafts is forward-thinking, he nonetheless values the historical roots of the trade. Fabraca’s emphasis on design solutions, functionality and a contemporary aesthetic, he argues, challenges dominant ideas around artisanship. “We’re not just producing limited edition collectibles,” he says. “I want to show that craftsmanship can be used in a much broader way, but we need to keep it ongoing and relatable.” 

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In our annual Craftsmanship Issue, you will discover a wide range of makers from across the globe – some may be new to you, while others will have produced works you may have admired through the years; some are situated as close as the emirate of Sharjah, others as far as the island of Martinique. Yet what these individuals and studios have in common is their commitment to preserving and continuing the legacy of traditional knowledge, now rendered in a whole new contemporary language: one that is fresh and intriguing, yet comfortably nostalgic.

In Lebanon, for example, preserving traditional crafts and supporting local artisans has become a national effort for its creative industry, as the country continues to suffer financial and political crises. And while an increasing number of Lebanon’s creative community have emigrated abroad, support for craftspeople in the country endures, solidifying the vital place these makers hold in the regional design eco-system. An in-depth feature on this topic can be found in the following pages of this issue.

Contrastingly, in Egypt, designers are at the early stages of rediscovering and re-appreciating the value of local craftsmanship, which, for a number of reasons, had not – until recently – evolved into the contemporary sphere. We learn more about the North African country’s creative renaissance by speaking to artist Omar Chakil, whose alabaster furniture and objects seek to raise the profile of traditional materials found in Egypt.

We are also excited to see the long-awaited, Anarchitect-designed Harding Boutique Hotel in Sri Lanka finally open to the public. The property takes inspiration from tropical modernism, which was spearheaded in the country by Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. In an exclusive interview, we discuss with Anarchitect’s founder Jonathan Ashmore the challenges of the project, not least due to the Covid-19 restrictions, which led to all construction and craftsmanship being produced locally – with artisans creating joinery and furniture on-site and in close collaboration with the studio.

This made reflect on the fact that while the relationship between artist and artisan dates back centuries, it is quite remarkable to see that, many years later, these bonds remain resilient while also leaving room for evolution.

Read the full issue on ISSUU here. 

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Kemahlioglu’s first memory of design goes back to when she painted a picture for her brother for an art competition. “He won first place with my drawing, and they asked him to be on live television, painting a new piece,” she smiles. “He drew a flower and a bee the size of a tree. It was hilarious.”

Kemahlioglu then trained in architecture, art and glassblowing in the United States where she received her bachelor’s in architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a master’s in architecture and urban design from GSAPP at Columbia University in New York City, where she is now based. “It is a great place to be creative and passionate, and [it is] a fast and competitive city, which fits my mindset,” she says about the Big Apple.

Fascinated by imperfection and how objects can evoke emotions, Kemahlioglu draws a lot of inspiration from her hometown, where she was surrounded by Ottoman, Byzantine and European history. Her other inspirations include architects and designers who have left their unmistakable mark on the profession. She admires Zaha Hadid for her innovative spirit, Peter Zumthor for his use of material and Kelly Wearstler for mastering colour, yet Kemahlioglu has shaped her own visual language throughout the years, resulting in sculptural and timeless pieces. “I usually start with a story and sketches,” she explains. “Then I take them to my glass assistant and together we make prototypes. If it is a lighting piece, I work with an engineer to create the technical details, which are just as important as the drawings.”

Exhibited at Wexler Gallery during Design Miami 2021 last December, Kemahlioglu’s latest lighting design reflects all these influences. Juxtaposing tradition and modernity, the collection, Sunset Drive, is an ode to the architectural history and culture of Istanbul.

“I wanted to create an interplay of light and shadow [through this] collection of pendant lights that are meant to be experienced from different angles and distances,” Kemahlioglu says. “I had this picture of driving during sunset, enjoying the cloud formations when cars pass by, and [seeing] moments of the bright headlights.”

Comprising sunset-hued mirrored glass cylinders and Meerschaum, a solid clay mineral found mainly in Eskisehir, in central Turkey, the collection of pendants combines different shapes, forms, textures and colours. Delighted by what she constantly discovers in small ateliers and tiny shops in her country of origin, as well as by antique pieces found in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, Kemahlioglu highlights these traditions that are slowly disappearing, such as with Meerschaum, a Turkish craft which involves hand-carving and perforations that diffuse light. “From afar, the whole piece seems solid, but upon closer examination the intricate hand-carved floral and graphic patterns become visible, with the glowing light shining through,” she says of Sunset Drive. “The sandblasted glass globes emit a soft romantic light, giving an impression of the haze before nightfall.”

Using traditional materials and fabrication techniques in a contemporary way is something that Kemahlioglu explores in everything she does. “FEYZ Studio aims to become a positive catalyst, as it believes that design can change the world,” the founder says.

Constantly pushing her creativity further, Kemahlioglu is currently working on a tableware collection, which includes linens, glassware and accessories featuring unique Turkish craftsmanship and techniques, to be launched in 2022.

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His first solo exhibition, Territorio Híbrido (Hybrid Territory), at the National Museum of Decorative Arts in Buenos Aires – showcasing more than 20 original pieces – poses a critical dialogue between contemporary design and its historical legacy. With the involvement of international curators, critics and gallerists, the impact and success of Territorio Híbrido moves outside its local perimeter and goes out to affirm the importance of Mohaded’s work in the global arena.

“My philosophy of design is strongly linked to context and culture and its relation to industry, economy, history, traditions, and obviously to its materials and processes. My work as an artist and designer is ‘marked’ by how a Latin American designer lives and explores design, which is very different (or so I think) to how a European designer does. My perspective of design is related to that world where design as a discipline has not yet been able to find a place of priority, as it [has already happened] in Europe or the USA,” Mohaded shares.

Presenting a new reading of Argentine design with a focus on eight different regions of the country – many of which have been excluded from design narratives, including the likes of his own province of Catamarca – the exhibition goes beyond a stereotypical image of Argentina and reveals a diverse identity of local cultures, techniques and materials that together constitute a national unit.

In the 20 months spent working on Territorio Híbrido, Mohaded covered more than 32,000 kilometres travelling throughout the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Catamarca, Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Salta and Jujuy. Along his journey, Mohaded selected several techniques and materials to create new pieces: fabrics made by hand with loom, ropes made of raw cow skin and sown with fine colt pelt stitches, carpentry pieces made with native woods such as the missionary moor cedar or the fallen cardon cactus, basketwork made in Catamarca with simbol fibre, and minerals including mica, boreal granite and white onyx.

Through these materials and craft techniques, the designer showcases traditional bodies of knowledge and geopolitical differences alongside personal imaginations, experimentation and innovative design thinking.

“Each of the pieces [in the exhibition] tries to re-signify the manual process and the know-how of local artisans from small, almost anonymous towns, [who have until now remained] almost invisible, but [possess] [un]imaginable richness and stories, which I understand must be observed with great care. The design [world] must watch out for them. They cannot remain anonymous; I insist on this [in my work],” Mohaded tells identity.

Occupying the entire level of the Errázuriz Palace inside the museum, the exhibition is divided into thematic modules, with each room featuring various site-specific works. Upon entering the building, one is faced with a monumental installation called Campo de Torres (Field of Towers) which rises up to 10 metres and is built using a traditional basketmaking technique from Mohaded’s home province of Catamarca, enhancing one’s senses of the arid valleys of the country’s northern region.

“Through his Campo de Torres [installation], Mohaded has defined a uniquely crafted design language that encourages us to reflect on notions of value, identity, community and locality,” says Sarah Myerscough, managing director of the Sarah Myerscough Gallery in London. “Within this visual lexicon, craft represents knowledge, tradition and technique, while design heralds innovation, ambition and development. This powerful combination underlines the author’s belief that the creation of synergistic links within design has the power to enact meaningful cultural and practical change within society.”

The sculptural pieces were conceived and crafted by Argentine artisan Lorenzo Reyes, with whom Mohaded has collaborated for more than ten years, honing a shared vision while simultaneously supporting and preserving historic knitting skills from their native land by re-evaluating the techniques that have been passed down for generations.

“We share the same motivations, the same concerns and we are both extremely curious; I think that unites us,” Mohaded says of his relationship with Reyes. “I simply admire his work and I have grown a lot listening to his stories, his forms of artistic expression, and this is what motivates me and makes me think that I am on the right path; that design can be that connecting tool between two worlds.”

In other parts of the exhibition, Mohaded reinterprets decoration through a vast collection of furniture, objects, fabrics and lamps in a hybrid of styles and forms, revealing the joint work of craftspeople and creators from different parts of the country.

Territorio Híbrido also features works by other artists and designers who, under the direction of Mohaded, have reinvented mate gourds as a fundamental element of South American culture, including the likes of Fernando and Humberto Campana, Pablo Reinoso, Marina Molinelli Wells and Celina Saubidet, and Roberto Sironi.

“They are people whose work, vision and perspective I admire,” Mohaded says. “This ‘encounter’ is the expression of a dialogue between them and the artisans, between art and craft, between different origins and stories. They are the voices that amplify the idea of a new way of doing and thinking about design.”

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While the millions of visitors to the Expo site will have the opportunity to explore and experience local Emirati crafts and traditions through MENASA, many will perhaps be pleasantly surprised at the outcome. The platform’s curated and experimental approach showcases traditional crafts through a contemporary lens, which has given rise to unexpected results. By collating local, regional and international voices, what we eventually find is a collaborative spirit that highlights the power of craft as a tool for communication and cross-cultural dialogue.

“The collective approach of MENASA, which means ‘platform’ in Arabic, is inspired by the theme and spirit of Expo 2020 Dubai: ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’. By bringing together artisans and designers from the UAE and around the world, we are nurturing a rich cultural and creative dialogue that will contribute to a meaningful legacy after Expo 2020 closes its doors,” explains Dr Hayat Shamsuddin, Senior Vice President, Arts and Culture, Expo 2020 Dubai.

MENASA is divided into two main counterparts: ‘Craft Stories’ and ‘Designer of the Week’, the latter highlighting 24 UAE-based emerging and established designers as well as public and private organisations that support the local craft and design community, revealing the breadth and vibrancy of the local contemporary design scene. Each will present new collections that were especially created for MENASA, with many expanding outside their usual design practices.

‘Craft Stories’, on the other hand, presents a dialogue between local and international designers and artisans who have been invited to collaborate with and explore Emirati crafts and culture in new ways. Traditional skills and heritage merge with contemporary approaches and innovation in techniques and materials, highlighting seven crafting traditions including clay, safeefah (palm frond weaving), talli (embroidery), sadu (Bedouin weaving), gargour-making (wire-crafted fish traps), pearl diving and coffee-making.

Each craft is matched with a local and international designer as well as a design organisation in a series of collaborations that reveal a multi-faceted story of the UAE, its landscape, people, values and identity. A series of documentaries, shot on location around the UAE, further highlights these stories, offering insights into the coming together of diverse cultures through poetic narratives.

The pairing of local and international designers was done deliberately to reveal specific stories from the UAE, explains Samer Yamani, Curator, MENASA – Emirati Design Platform, Expo 2020 Dubai. The story of ‘Safeefah’, for example, is one of ‘weaving communities’, as the craft itself is identified as a communal act where (predominantly) women work together to weave various objects using palm fronds. To tell this craft story, Yamani selected Estudio Campana, who had set up the Campana Institute in the 1980s to offer creative education to marginalised children and families. The designer brothers have been paired with Al Ghadeer UAE Crafts, a non-profit organisation that empowers underprivileged women through sustainable Emirati crafts.

“Community building through creativity is a core message [here], so the selection of Estudio Campana and Al Ghadeer was not random, but [made] because they have an aspect that unites them,” Yamani shares. “I was trying to pair partners who share similar values and vision. [Here,] design becomes the tool of bringing them together, and craft becomes the medium.”

Another collaboration brings together Emirati sisters Sheikha and Afra Bin Dhaher and Rwandan artist Chris Schwagga to design a collection called ‘Safari – Barari’, inspired by the Gargour craft, that tells the story of the flora and fauna of both regions. The collection forms two parts. One part, designed by Schwagga and crafted by female artisans from Rwanda, features metal sculptures of the UAE’s oryx and the Rwandan ‘Inyambo’ royal cows – emblematic animals that symbolise beauty and prosperity across both cultures; while the second part includes accessories designed by the Bin Dhaher sisters that recreate a traditional Rwandan beadwork craft which is then wrapped around the metal-wire sculptures to resemble headdresses.

“We started by researching existing Rwandan beaded accessories to get an idea of the craft itself… then, we looked at our local flora and landscape and started gathering information on the plants that we found most interesting, visually,” the sisters share.

“From there, we began designing the patterns; each belt dedicated to a particular element (fauna or flora). Because the beadwork was based on a grid, it automatically resembled pixel art. We thought it would be very interesting to explore this further and try to make it more dynamic and break the grid, in a sense. The results were very interesting as they were re-interpreted by the artisans who did the beadwork. Whatever element they added or eliminated became part of the process.”

“[The process] was interesting since the wire used for the Gargour craft is very similar to the wire I use in the making of my sculptures in Rwanda, so it made the process easy for the artisans that came with me to execute the work,” Schwagga says.

“Our artistic universes aligned beautifully,” he adds. “I was pleasantly surprised by our similarities and especially how culture and nature are some of the main sources of inspiration. The beaded belt has been part of the culture in Rwanda for the longest time; they have great value and are a sign of beauty. By decorating the cow and oryx with them, we are celebrating them the way the ‘Inyambo’ cows are celebrated in Rwanda.”

The seven collections from Craft Stories (alongside the wider content of MENASA) will be showcased and available for sale in a dedicated design space located on the ground level of the Rove Expo hotel, next to Al Wasl Plaza. It also features a dramatic 13-metre-wide window display designed by Carmello Zappulla and Rami Al Ali, who merged 3D printing with local crafts.

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Photography by Tarek Moukaddem for identity

“I think the right word [for my work is] ‘timeless’. When you look at something that is timeless, it connects the past with the present and the future. That’s why it feels fantastical or otherworldly; it is ageless, you can’t put a date to it. It even feels alien,” Dalle muses. “It looks futuristic but also ancient; but to me, the right word is ‘timeless’.”

Photography by Tarek Moukaddem for identity

Dalle’s career began with designing window displays for retail outlets, which she says she appreciates as displaying art for the public, instead of in a gallery which not everyone is able to access. “Art should be everywhere; it should be on the street, it should be what you’re wearing; it should not be between closed halls in an all-white environment,” she says. “A window display is appreciated by everyone.”

Her first collaboration involved creating Magrabi Optical window displays for businesswoman and art patron Cherine Magrabi Tayeb. She then went on to design for Hermès in Beirut and Paris and is now a Hermès-certified designer, conceiving themes for its boutiques around the world.

Much of Dalle’s sensibility and approach to design stems from her childhood experiences and her observations about women in Lebanese society – including her mother. Dalle was born in the aftermath of the Lebanese Civil War which had left the country in tough circumstances, and many women were forced to take on domestic crafts such as sewing clothes for their families.

“I like to work with women who are not trained as professional artisans but who work out of their homes,” Dalle expIains. “I think this goes back to my childhood, to watching my mom for example, and how she started sewing clothes. It is craftsmanship that is born out of necessity and not out of luxury – and this fascinates me.”

As a child Dalle would create dolls from scraps that she found around the house, be it fabric or even tissue paper. “This goes back to the idea of using what’s around the house, which relates to recycling and sustainability. This is really how I started experimenting with materials and textures and surfaces – it all came out of necessity. Then, of course, I went on to design school and I wanted to reflect on that: being a child growing up in a lower-to-middle class family and looking back at those societies and those circumstances and really studying that. And stretching it into my work today. That’s really what I’m interested in.”

One of Dalle’s biggest collaborators to date is third-generation carpet gallery Iwan Maktabi, with whom she’s worked for 12 years. Their latest project, which was showcased at Nomad Circle this year, is called ‘It felt like a dream’ and comprises a collection of sculptural wall tapestries that are made from felt. The project is part of the gallery’s wider Iwan Maktabi Lab initiative which focuses on collaborations that drive and experiment with culture, creativity and craft.

For the collection, Dalle travelled to Konya in Turkey to meet a family of felt makers who for generations have devoted their craft to making felt rugs and kepeneks for shepherds, and who have restored the earliest sikkes of the dervishes which are now found in Mevlana Museum – the mausoleum of Jalal ad-Din Muhammed Rumi, the famous Sufi mystic and poet.

An unexpected turn of events led to Dalle instead collaborating with the wife of the master felt maker Mehmet, which absolutely transformed the experience for her. “I watched as a craft that has been dominated by men for centuries unfolded through the fingers and feeling of Theresa. It was the same material, yet handled in a more vulnerable and honest way, becoming more emotional and sensual, less dogmatic, more spiritual, still present and mindful,” the artist recounts.

In felting, as with many other centuries-old crafts, women often found themselves relegated to the home, to private spaces, while men were in the public eye, in workshops and felt-making saunas. The process of felting rugs centres on a man’s physical form, as it requires strength to carry the weight and agitate the wool.

“A lot of my work, when it comes to craft, is about the dynamics between men and women. My research looks at how crafts carried by women hold a special form of intimacy,” Dalle explains.

While her work is inspired by tradition and folklore, the intention is always to break the said tradition by focusing on memory and how that can be translated. “It’s more about playing on memory than focusing on the tradition of the crafts,” she explains. “I’m not interested in the craft itself as much as I am interested in the memory. I always have this problem with the person teaching me the craft, which is that I’m not here to just learn about a step-by-step process, I need to learn about the memory and the spirituality behind the craft and the storytelling, not only about the process. I, myself, can break the process and break the grid and recreate it.”

For Dalle, what is even more important than the craft is the material which precedes the craft and informs the entire process. “When I touch material, it has poetry to it. Material speaks; it’s like strata, it’s like skin, it’s not a dead object,” Dalle says. “Then I seek out the craft for that material. When you start to think of material as a living object, you realise that it is also timeless.”

Dalle’s latest project is designing the scenography of the Beirut Concept Store for this year’s Dubai Design Week, which consists of a 100-square metre space exhibiting the works of Lebanese designers. For this, the artist has collected linens from Lebanese families – some of which date back to the 1950s, others as recent as the Beirut Blast – resulting in an installation of over 1000 pillows called ‘The Dream’. “It’s really about composing a Lebanese dream. Most of the pillows were brought from houses of middle-to-lower class families, and the detailing on the pillows is amazing.”

The pillowcases are all used and have marks of wear and tear, and even burn marks. “People didn’t have money to spend on new pillow covers so what they did is spend hours and hours mending these pillows. And we are not talking about stitching; they actually removed the threads from the pillow and connected it with another thread. We call this ‘ratti’. It’s a technique of weaving which is usually done with very expensive rugs, not pillow covers. But imagine, people in Lebanon did it with pillow covers. That just gave me goosebumps,” Dalle says.

The installation is also about a country that is healing and mending itself, she adds. And while working as a designer in Lebanon has its many challenges – especially with the current crisis in the aftermath of the port explosion – Dalle insists that she will not leave her home country behind. “All of my work is inspired by the situation in Lebanon. I am very connected to my artisans; we are like family; I cannot leave them,” she says. “It is my workspace and my community. When your ship is sinking, you cannot just leave and let everyone else sink.”

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The encounter in this small alpine village perched on a mountain top in the Middle Atlas led to a true collaboration, which resulted in the creation of the newly launched Dar Youk collection (Dar means ‘home’ in Arabic and Youk means ‘one’ in the Tamazight language).

“We would like to shine a light on the role of the female weavers, the artists who helped to create [these pieces],” McEwan confesses. Made with natural hand-processed wool and plant-based dyes with a minimal human- and environment-impact production process, this line presents the Moroccan carpet in its raw form. Neutrals of beiges and whites combine with abstract patterns and touches of chocolate, greens and pinks for a contemporary twist.

“There are four different designs that can be made in any size, and every piece is made to order, which reduces waste and promotes conscious living,” says McEwan. “Our style has always been to connect old and new, history and modernity. We wanted to use something as classic as the traditional Moroccan checkerboard pattern.”

This collection reflects Tigmi Trading’s essence, which consists of creating unique pieces made ethically and sustainably, and honouring and preserving traditional craftsmanship while providing financial security for the makers.

“In the western world we are exposed to so many beautiful Moroccan designs, yet the artisans that make them are merely a footnote, reduced to the term ‘artisan-made’ with so little known about the true work of these women, their kinship and individual talents,” says McEwan. “With this collection, Tigmi Trading [wants] to acknowledge the female artists – in addition to Nina Mohammad-Galbert – who have helped us: Hachmia A’Douri, Secretary, who has been with the cooperative since it opened; Khadijah Ouchkek, Treasurer, who joined in 1979; and Khadijah El Abdi, who started her training in 1987. All three women started at the age of 12, along with Hajou Ammraoui, El Hachmia Douiri, Fatima Abaraou, Mahma Bahousse, Rachida Ghenam and Fatima Balhoussaine.”

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Born in France, Stephane Noyer obtained a master’s degree in computer science and then moved to the UAE, where he worked in several fields before starting to collaborate with Ibbini in 2017. Since then, the two have created a unique body of work of which sits at the intersection of art, design and contemporary art.

“Sometimes the work is closer to functional art; for example, we’ve just completed a collection of mirrors,” says Ibbini. “On other occasions, it’s more contemporary craft with a design lean – as with our Symbio Vessels collection. I find it more interesting not to sit within specific boundaries of a ‘field’, and instead push the practice to spill over into many areas.”

Their elaborate and ornate pieces can take up to six months to complete as some of them comprise thousands of single parts. They require different skills, from software programming to the highest level of craftsmanship combined with the use of very precise machines.

“An important part of the practice is in research and development, so a portion of the projects focus on purely pushing [the] boundaries of material/technique/concept,” confesses Ibbini.

Fine veneer wood, paper, mother of pearl and – more recently – repurposed thin acrylic sheeting are some of the materials the duo work with to create their mesmerising pieces in their new studio space in Abu Dhabi. “We select the materials for their delicate and tactile qualities when cut,” says Ibbini. “I am particularly fond of paper, which looks like lace when cut finely enough.”

Working mostly on commissions for private collectors, hotels and corporate collections, Noyer and Ibbini – who received the Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize in 2019 – are always busy, and the coming months show no signs of slowing down. “We’ve got some especially large-scale pieces underway that will need a lot of development before they are completed,” Ibbini says. “We are also working on a series of more functional works that I’m excited about.”

Whether it is through the repetition of simple motifs, elaborate geometric constructions or an accumulation of ornamental details, the Ibbini Studio creations reinterpret old references in a contemporary way, giving life to something visually unique that cannot be compared to anything else. Complexity and simplicity intertwine through objects that involve both humans and machines. “Algorithms allow [us] to augment hand-drawn designs; high-precision machines are used to laser-cut or 3D-print parts; and the final build is always carried out entirely by hand,” Ibbini and Noyer say. The right mix for the perfect result.

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