Meet d3 at Dubai Design District from 2nd-4th April 2015

Dubai Design District (d3) is hosting a three day event from 2nd - 4th April 2015 called Meed d3 which will be open to the public and free to attend (first day will on between 6.00pm-12.00am, second and third day will be on between 2.00pm-12.00am).

The schedule and line up for Meet d3 feels like a festival, it features a mix of local, regional and international designers, artists, musicians, concept retailers and unique dining experiences.

The program is quite extensive, the complete line up and schedule can be found/downloaded here (I've added a summary of the schedule at the end of this post as well).

Meet d3 looks like it will be a fun event, so if you're town, make sure you don't miss it. It will be an opportunity to engage with local, regional and international acts and brands. Lots of talented people have been working behind the scenes to put this event together. So in the spirit of it being a free event for the Dubai communiy, do go and show your support.

Here are my top picks of Meet d3:

Ebon Heath

Brooklyn native and Berlin resident, Ebon Heath, is known for literally playing with words; creating mesmerizing typographic structures that bring the poetry of our lives into the third dimension.
At Meet d3, a brand new suspended artwork by Ebon will be unveiled: a metallic word cloud in English and Arabic that represents a visual conversation between global and local voices. The words used in the structure are from the poem, “On Beauty” by Kahlil Gibran.

GHAITH&JAD

The ‘Projection Lines’ installation, designed by Beirut-based architecture and design studio GHAITH&JAD, presents itself as an interactive spatial experience within the Meet d3 event.
With their intervention, the architects aim to celebrate discovery, spatial construction and human curiosity though a space that never reveals its surreal and distorted path to anyone but those who go through it.
The space always awaits the motion of a person to reveal its narrative of a million compositions, making it a performance space always perceived through experience and not through documentation.

Cinema Akil x Gazette

Cinema Akil x Gazette will be screening “Life Eraser” and “Hot Dollar” starring Tilda Swinton from the Simulacrum & Hyperbole series by British artist Katerina Jebb. In these films, Jebb challenges her feminine icons in unexpected and intimate scenarios, unraveling seemingly improvised rants that in fact point to a carefully crafted monologue of epic proportions.
Jebb’s sardonic tale of women questions art, commerce and the complex battle between ego and id. The films will be screened every night from from 7-10pm as part of ‘Meet d3’.

Sonic Portrait

A Model Studio was created as part of the exhibition ‘Systems for a Score’ by Fari Bradley and Chris Weaver during their 2014-2015 residency at Tashkeel in Dubai. The bespoke recording studio created by the artists, that was central to their exhibition in which UAE-based musicians, artists and local school children interpreted traditional Emirati weave (Al Sadu) as graphic scores.
For Meet d3 the studio has been repurposed and opened to the public. Using visual and written language-based prompts (in both Arabic and English), members of the public are invited to enter the space and relay an aspect of their own personal story in response to visual and written prompts.

Sole DXB presents Raw Metropolis

‘Raw Metropolis’ is a short documentary that explores how Dubai is finding its identity through various stylistic expressions from both its residents and visitors. The movie is comprised of a series of video portraits that capture the influence of street style in one of the world’s newest urban centers.
Written and directed by Amirah Tajdin of Seven Thirty Films, ‘Raw Metropolis’ was filmed over the course of two days at Dubai Design District during Sole DXB. The finished product now makes its way back to the district where the movie will be screened twice a day on all three days of Meet d3.

Khalid Shafar

For Meet d3, designer Khalid Shafar has developed a specific site seating installation called ‘CITY’s Bench’, whose multifaceted surface and varying dimensions were designed to welcome and accommodate the naturally varying demographics of the population of our diverse city.

Evolution of Emirati Dress

Curated by Anthropology of Design and supported by Dubai Design and Fashion Council, ‘Evolution of Emirati Dress’ is an exhibition focused on showcasing the different forms of dress worn by women in the UAE from 1960 to 2011, with an emphasis on the traditional Emirati ‘thawb’ and ‘kandurah’ throughout this period.
The exhibition is based on the book ‘Sultani—Traditions Renewed’ by Dr. Reem El Mutwalli, where she traces the impact of oil wealth, urbanization, access to the world market, and the pressures of globalization on dress and a conservative Arab-Islamic society.

Mourad Mazouz and Hassan Hajjaj presenting Andy Wahloo and Almaz

Blood brothers, Moroccan-born pop artist Hassan Hajjaj and award-winning restaurateur Mourad ‘MoMo’ Mazouz have worked with each other for years on creating food-art experiences (perhaps most famously in 2003 to bring Paris’ iconic “Andy Wahloo” bar- restaurant to life) and now they are concocting yet another colorful culinary collaboration at Meet d3.
Expect MoMo to deliver a truly unique dining experience in a whimsical restaurant decked out with Hajjaj’s trademark style of recycled North African objects and pop-culture references, to create a feast to nourish all of your senses.

Mashrou’ Leila

Mashrou’ Leila, the Lebanese five-member alternative rock band from Beirut, has been a resounding success throughout the Middle East and particularly in Dubai where they’ve swiftly sold out several shows in the past year. With their distinct approach to storytelling and orchestration, they have crafted some of the most melancholic ballads and raucous anthems in contemporary alternative Arabic music.
Mashrou’ Leila will be playing the main stage on April 2nd, the first night of Meet d3, in a rare free show that’s not to be missed.

Bei Ru

Bei Ru is a Los Angeles-based multi-genre music producer/composer known for his unconventional use of Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms combined with heavy drums, electronics, and a plethora of live instrumentation.
LA Weekly called his music: “The sound of a diaspora that settled in Los Angeles; Armenian music filtered through Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and underground hip-hop.”

Bradley Zero

Bradley Zero is one of the key faces behind the world-conquering Boiler Room team, serving as curator and host for the iconic music platform. As founder of the iconic vinyl-only Peckham Party, Bradley has had the chance to develop a unique, wide-ranging style, and in the process garner a loyal following of dancers.
Resident Advisor has described yet another one of his projects, Rhythm Section, as “A party which, in spite of its modest means and ambitions, has been something of an epiphany for me, and for plenty of others too”.
Bradley will be closing the second night of festivities with a set on the main stage at Meet d3.

Talvin Singh

Talvin Singh is a producer, composer and tabla player renowned for his boundary- pushing fusion of Indian classical music and drum & bass. Often referred to as the ‘Father of Modern Asian Electronica’, Talvin is now bringing his innovative musical style to the main stage at Meet d3.
From tablas to turntables, Talvin has taken us on incredible sonic journeys for the past 20 years, so join us to see where he takes us next and what dynamic sounds he drums out for Dubai.

Zahed Sultan

Zahed Sultan is an alternative / electronic multimedia artist from Kuwait. He released his debut album ‘Hi Fear, Lo Love’ in the Spring of 2011 and attained success with his 2nd single ‘I Want Her But I Don’t Want Her.’

Bass Sekolah

Bass Sekolah are a duo that make music in the jungle – quite literally. Their studio is located right outside of the Berembun forest reserve, in Malaysia, a cozy place frequented by global players such as Modeselektor, Africa Hitech, Daedelus, Perera Elsewhere and other luminaries.
Bass Sekolah are producer Cee and multi-instrumentalist / crooner Darren Ashley, and they’re on a mission to make honest, soulful, forward-thinking Electronica.

Luke Howard

Luke Howard is one quarter of Horse Meat Disco, the four man dj club collective that has continued to lead the way in the disco field with packed residencies at their HQ, Eagle London in London’s inner city Vauxhall, Cielo and various venues in New York, Prince Charles in Berlin and Silencio/Wanderlust in Paris.
Now approaching their tenth year of existence and inspired by the music and inclusive ethos of New York’s heady club scene in the 1970s & 80s, the collective has garnered a unique reputation for throwing amazing parties with unmatchable sets. At Meet d3, Luke will be performing at MoMo and Hassan Hajjaj’s Andy Wahloo concept restaurant.

Gnawa music

Simo Lagnawi, Marouane El Fathi and Mohammed El Gasmi are bringing you Gnawa music, a long tradition of trance music which travelled through Morocco from the Sahara.
Since his arrival in the U.K in 2008, Simo has been a relentless pushing new boundaries fusing Gnawa with music from countries such as Gambia, Burkina faso, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, India, Japan, Venezuela, and the Caribbean.
For Meet d3 he is being joined by 2 traditional Gnawa performers from Marrakech for his performance at the Andy Wahloo tent.

Schedule summary: