1971 – Design Space, Sharjah, hosts two exhibitions on local issues
- 01 Jul 2021
Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer
Fashcultivate (Nov. 2, 2019 – Feb. 8, 2020) was an exhibition hosted by 1971 – Design Space, Sharjah, which closed too much acclaim. It was perhaps in the fitness of things it came at a time just before the pandemic disaster struck, since it gave people fond memories to mull over in the hard times that were to follow. Co-curated by Emirati fashion designer/curator Khulood Bin Thani and Fatma Al Mahmoud, Head, 1971 – Design Space, it celebrated date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) as being one of the most cherished gifts of nature and their importance throughout the history of human civilisation.
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For the exhibition, seven Gulf-based designers were invited to work on commissioned pieces within textile design, contemporary couture fashion and in relation to the topic of date palms – by referencing the trees’ various functions, their fibres, compositions, colours, structures, nourishments, haptics and their beauty, as well as the uniqueness at large of their creations. In keeping with the show’s title, the commissioned designers researched the date palm tree extensively, and defined certain narratives, aligning them with their own ideas and merging them in their final, hand-crafted results.
The curators and Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council had developed a research with Dr Sandra Piesik, where findings resulted in new materials being fabricated out of the date palm. Piesik is an architect and a researcher who has worked extensively in the Middle East on projects that reconnect traditional knowledge systems with modern applications. She has led research, development and deployment studies on the adaptation of date palm leaf architecture for modern use, which resulted in an award-winning project endorsed by the UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) and the book Arish: Palm-Leaf Architecture.
The 1971 exhibition theme was also mirrored in the accompanying, bespoke exhibition design, created by Sharjah-based interior/product designer, Alya Al Ghfeli.
Participating designers included Asma Al Mazrouie (UAE); Faissal El-Malak (UAE-based); Hala Kaiksow (Bahrain); Hessa Al Suwaidi (UAE); Khalid Mezaina (UAE); Maryam Omaira (UAE) and Shahd AlShehail (KSA). Date palms have become part of the cultural and historical identity of the Gulf region. They also play an important role in the area’s economy, with the UAE rated globally as the sixth largest producer of dates.
The seeds of the trees were believed to have travelled to the region 7,000 years ago through traders of ancient times and their nomadic lifestyles, from places where the date palms were originally cultivated, such as the Indus Valley (now in Pakistan), Mesopotamia (now Iraq), the Nile Valley, Eastern Mediterranean and the Horn of Africa. Date palms gained their greatest esteem in Arabic Islamic culture and has been frequently mentioned as both a fruit and a tree in the Holy Qu’ran. Different parts of the trees have been utilised for different purposes: for example, the trunks were used to support tents, frameworks and structures of human dwellings, while leaves were incorporated in floorings, baskets and mats. Branches were used for making roofs, while seeds and date fruit became ingredients for making soups, oil-based perfumes, kohl eyeliners and, of course, date syrup.
Al Mahmoud recalled that “Fashcultivate started as a conversation between Khulood Thani and myself over coffee. Knowing that the date palm sheltered our ancestors through the fundamental elements of their homes, we wondered if it can shelter us in a mean that has been tested before, through clothing.
“From the research idea that sparked, the conversation evolved to the idea of an exhibition combining established and emerging designers.”
She adds: “I came across Alya Al Ghfeli’s work at Design Days Dubai 2017 with a project being presented at the Dubai Culture booth, portraying heritage and culture in a minimalist, modern structure enclosing traditional and sustainable elements beautifully implied within the design, juxtaposed beautifully.
“The Sharjah-based interior/product designer methodically weaves different elements creating a new narrative, allowing her work to adopt a unique personality.”
The second exhibition was Desert Cast (Nov. 7, 2020 – Mar. 27, 2021), right in the middle of the pandemic. It therefore raised a challenge to circumstances.
Borrowing the profiles used for extruded gypsum cornices and friezes, it morphed them by overlapping the designs with two other locally embellished processes, namely, sand-casting and foam-cutting.
The exhibition presented some of the original pieces of the series which showed at Abwab during Dubai Design Week 2018 at the Kuwait City Pavilion. The developed pieces were commissioned by 1971 – Design Space, including a visual story of the process. UAE-based designer Talin Hazbar was invited to express her interpretation of Desert Cast and to investigate the architecture of the United Arab Emirates through her research. The results were showcased through public installations in the Emirate of Sharjah at Flag Island, Al Dhaid Flag Square and Khorfakkan Flag Square. The public installations were titled Extractions and referred to the extractions of patterns on the façades of the perhaps excessively designed buildings that surround us.
Said Al Mahmoud: “The investigation and objective in trying to identify a regional design identity started when the three Kuwait-based designers, Jassim AlNashmi, Kawther AlSaffar and Ricardas Blazukas, took up this initiative in 2018 for the Kuwait City Pavilion at Abwab during Dubai Design Week. “I was drawn to their concept and how relevant it is, especially when applied to the UAE.
Growing up and witnessing the urbanisation happening in the UAE, I noticed how there is no defined identity, but instead a developed one through the reapplication of regional and borrowed elements. “Through this project, it was interesting to discover that this was the case in most of the Gulf countries. “Desert Cast – Towards an Identity was an invitation to the (Kuwaiti) trio to take the project into further development with fourteen newly commissioned pieces. “For the collaboration, the UAE-based architect and researcher Talin Hazbar was the perfect fit for the project, as she investigated the UAE and the Emirate of Sharjah specifically in terms of examining how its overruling architectural style has come about.”