Make Works United Arab Emirates (UAE)
A testimonial from the first Make Works region outside of Europe
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A testimonial from the first Make Works region outside of Europe
Last updated
Was this helpful?
By Jumana Taha
Make Works UAE is a Tashkeel initiative and was launched at Dubai Design Week in 2017.
Established in Dubai in 2008 by Lateefa bint Maktoum, Tashkeel provides a nurturing environment for the growth of contemporary art and design practice rooted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It supports the UAE’s creative and cultural industries through studio facilities, training and residencies alongside exhibitions, events and workshops. In addition to Make Works UAE, Tashkeel’s design-focused initiatives include the Tanween design programme and The Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize.
The Make Works UAE directory of factories, makers and material suppliers makes manufacturing accessible and gives visibility to those hidden among a labyrinth of warehouses in industrial estates. By providing the tools to help bring their ideas to life, Make Works UAE allows creatives to understand the different manufacturing processes available in the country, and form meaningful relationships with manufacturers. There are already case studies of challenging collaborations between local factories and makers, with many adjusting the regular functionality of machines to fabricate limited edition or one-off designed products.
Make Works UAE website is also an advocate of UAE traditional crafts, such as Sadu fabric weaving and Khoos palm frond weaving. By connecting creatives to talented craftspeople, the knowledge of the material process is shared and passed on, and the crafts themselves have the opportunity to be reinvented, often integrated within contemporary design concepts.
Tashkeel aims to grow the Make Works UAE network to include manufacturers from all seven Emirates, and deliver a wide range of workshops for practitioners, youth and the community exploring the processes, practices and technologies used by members of Make Works UAE.
