Photo Review of Meet d3

A couple of months ago, Dubai Design District (d3) hosted a three day event from 2nd - 4th April 2015 called Meed d3 which was open to the public and free to attend. It was the first time d3 was open to the public, the aim was to introduce the district to the public, to get a sense of the space and what's to come.

The schedule for the three days included a mix of local, regional and international designers, artists, musicians, concept retailers and unique dining experiences - many of which will be moving into Dubai Design District in the next few months.

Here's an overview of what I saw:

Room Service by S*auce

A fully shoppable mobile bedroom installation which featured functional design pieces by multidisciplinary Emirati artist Latifa Saeed, Lebanese pop-artist Corinne Martin, as well as fashion and lifestyle items by a host of regional and international designers. www.shopatsauce.com

Evolution of Emirati Dress - exhibition and talk

"Evolution of Emirati Dress" was an exhibition 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 was based on the book "Sultani—Traditions Renewed" by Dr. Reem El Mutwalli, whichtraces the impact of oil wealth, urbanization, access to the world market, and the pressures of globalization on dress and a conservative Arab-Islamic society. www.reemelmutwalli.com

'Dragon Skin' ceiling installation by Wanders Wagner Architects

This colour changing light ceiling installation was probably the most photographed during Meet d3, designed by Wanders Wagner Arhitects.

Tahir Sultan

Kuwaiti fashion designer, Tahir Sultan created a region-centric project that dealt with culture, history, identity and popular modern culture. A state-of-the-art blue Bedouin tent created by over 750 artisans, conveyed both form and function and added a modern element to what is both historical and traditional. The use of a tent, a common regional symbol for safety, refuge and shelter, was intended to act as a metaphor for great and captivating cities today. These are images from inside the tent. www.tahirsultan.com

Wink Space

Wink Space is conceived and constructed by architects Masakazu Shirane and Saya Miyazaki. It utilizes the world’s first zipper architecture. Flat, hard, mirrored panels of varying sizes and triangular in shape are connected by zipper, and through the use of small suspension cables, it is shaped by the architects through an origami-like process of folding and distributing tension.

Any single triangular panel may be removed by simply unzipping it from its surrounding panels, thus creating a window at any point along the space, allowing the inside and outside worlds to “wink” at one another. www.shirane-miyazaki.com

Mourad Mazouz and Hassan Hajjaj presenting Andy Wahloo and Almaz

Moroccan-born pop artist Hassan Hajjaj and award-winning restaurateur Mourad 'MoMo' Mazouz have worked together for years creating food-art experiences (perhaps their most famous is the Andy Wahloo bar-restaurant in Paris).

For Meet d3 they brought us a culinary and musical feast in a tent that was called Andy Wahloo, or as I'd like to refer to it as the "Disco Tent". It was where I spent most of my time during the three days and had the most fun (will write more about it in a separate post). The tent was decked out with Hajjaj’s trademark style of recycled North African objects and pop-culture references.

Lasvit

Lasvit, founded in 2007 by Leon Jakimic, is a manufacturer of unique works of glass, including bespoke light fittings, glass art installations and award-winning collections.

With an outdoor glassworks furnace installed specifically at Meet d3, visitors had a unique opportunity to glimpse a magical world of hand-molded blown glass manufacture. Visitors were invited to not only witness but also participate in the process of transforming raw glass into original objects with the help of professional Czech glass makers. www.lasvit.com

OBEY mural

The iconic OBEY face is probably the most recognized street art image today, seen in many cities since 1990. During Meet d3, members of the OBEY were in Dubai for the first time to live-paste a massive 30 meter x 8 meter installation made up of 4 huge square graphics from their music collection. www.obeygiant.com

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 was repurposed and opened to the public. Using visual and written language-based prompts (in both Arabic and English), members of the public were invited to enter the space and relay an aspect of their own personal story in response to visual and written prompts. www.bradley-weaver.com

Cinema Akil x Gazette

Cinema Akil x Gazette screened “Life Eraser” and “Hot Dollar” starring Tilda Swinton from the Simulacrum & Hyperbole series by British artist Katerina Jebb.

Both films challenge Jebb's 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.

threeASFOUR

threeASFOUR is an avant garde trio of designers made up of Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser and Adi Gil. Their experimental designs have been worn by Bjork and Yoko Ono and displayed in Metropolitan Museum of Art.

At Meet d3, threeASFOUR transitioned from the world of fashion to design and technology and created an immersive multimedia presentation of their latest collection. www.threeasfour.com