Through the Tanween and the Critical Practice Programmes, Tashkeel has fostered and elevated the abilities and practise of designers and artists over the course of its 15 years since being founded in the UAE. By offering a cohort of carefully chosen professional designers a year of fully paid training, the Tanween Design Programme aims to foster the continual evolution of UAE design.
The Tanween Design Program will begin its tenth season in 2023. Wafa Al Falahi (UAE), Marwa Abdelrahim (Sudan), Maryam Elattar & Mohamed Elnaggar (Egypt), Tia Sinclair-Kemp & Chinara Tashmatova (USA/Kazakhstan), and 67 other design practitioners were chosen, according to Zawya. They will set out on solo trips to investigate the UAE’s cultural landscape over the coming months, and when paired with their interdisciplinary backgrounds, they will produce luxurious, sustainable, and functional designs.
Since 2011, Tashkeel has provided funding for 40 designers to enroll in professional development courses. This has resulted in the creation of over 45 prototypes and more than 30 furniture and lighting pieces that are inspired by, created in, and manufactured in the United Arab Emirates and debuted at Dubai Design Week. Visitors to the previous Downtown Design in November 2022 expressed their admiration for the departing Tanween cohort in large numbers. The eighth year of Tashkeel’s Critical Practice Programme welcomes Maitha Hamdan, Ji-Hye Kim, Mouza Al Hamrani, and Rand Abdul Jabbar (Iraq/Canada).
In order to identify new artists and provide them with ongoing studio support, training, critique, and production opportunities for up to a year in the UAE, the Critical Practice Programme (CPP) was launched in 2014. Out of a total of 44 applications from practitioners residing and working in the UAE, the CPP2023 cohort was carefully chosen. Each CPP2023 participant will participate in a 12-month programme in 2023 that will start with a series of studio visits, critiques, and workshops before they begin an experimental and research phase guided by Tashkeel personnel and their mentors.
In speaking about the expectations from this year’s cohorts and the growth of Tashkeel, Deputy Director, Lisa-Ball Lechgar said, “Tashkeel values its legacy of training and development over the last 15 years and shall continue its commitment moving forward. The alumni from our professional development programmes have become leaders in their fields and continue to contribute to the country’s creative and cultural industries as innovators and entrepreneurs..”
The Critical Practice Programme runs from January through December 2023, while the Tanween Design Programme runs from January through November 2023. As it celebrates its 15th anniversary throughout 2023, Tashkeel’s commitment to the industry includes supporting UAE-based design and visual art practitioners.