Queen launches Amman Design Week 2017

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday launched the 2nd annual edition of Amman Design Week (ADW), which for this year focuses on increasing the event’s reach among members of the public through an array of programmes that target schools in governorates, as well as field visits and mobile experiments.

The event, which is an initiative by Queen Rania and held under her patronage, will open its doors under this edition to the public from October 6 to 14, and will present a comprehensive programme of exhibitions, workshops, talks, tours and events under the theme "Design Moves Life Moves Design".

Queen Rania launched the ADW 2017 at an event at the Ras El Ain Hangar in downtown Amman, where she was received by Greater Amman Municipality Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh, and ADW Co-Directors Abeer Seikaly and Rana Beiruti.

Several princesses were also in attendance, in addition to several public and private sector leaders, Jordanian and Arab media figures and design enthusiasts.

Queen Rania toured the Hangar Exhibition, where she viewed the works of more than 100 regional and international designers hailing from the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Lebanon, Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, India, Germany, France and the US.

Throughout the nine-day event, the nearby Crafts District, also located in Ras El Ain, will feature several demonstration booths, pop-up shops, cultural activities, and food options, according to a statement from the Her Majesty's Office.

According to the organisers, this year's event will present its first-ever Student Exhibition, showcasing the works of student members of ADW’s year-round mentorship programme. This year’s programme also comprises a diverse selection of workshops and panel discussions, which aim to highlight design’s "unseen impact on our daily lives".

Drawing on the event’s theme of "motion", ADW 2017 will extend beyond the Ras El Ain area, with activities held at more than 50 sites around the city, including galleries, shops, institutes, universities and other public spaces.

This year's edition of ADW focuses large efforts on increasing the event’s reach among members of the public through programs that target schools in governorates, as well as field visits and mobile experiments, according to the statement.

In an address at the event, Beiruti said that the programme for ADW 2017 builds on the success experienced during the event’s pilot in 2016. “After focusing last year on raising awareness on the ever-presence of design in our lives, this year’s programme tackles the power of design to move the world around us,” she added.

“Design is a movement that seeks to beautify while also serving as a medium for positive change…It empowers people to take control, make an impact, and rise up to challenge the status quo," she said during the launch of the event.

Seikaly highlighted that this year’s edition of ADW reinforces the focus on the key pillars of the event, such as empowering local designers, education, social transformation and paying tribute to Jordan’s cultural heritage.

 “This personifies the year’s theme of movement, as we are endeavouring to contribute towards creating a potent and sustainable design movement in Jordan among current and future generations,” she added. 

According to Ahmad Humeid, the curator of this year’s Hangar Exhibition, the Hangar Exhibition is one of the key landmarks of ADW, offering a snapshot of the state of Amman’s design landscape and the "remarkable potential" possessed by local and regional designers.

“The exhibition will challenge our understanding of design and its ability to push the boundaries of physical reality and the elements of material, scale, form and function,” Humeid said. 

The 2017 Hangar Exhibition showcases the work of local and regional designers with a focus on the idea of movement, presenting designs that move between extremes in physical, intellectual, cultural or social terms, according to Humeid.

Humeid explained that the curatorial team “had the task to look within over 300 submissions to seek projects, ideas and initiatives that reflected a spirit of motion: design that helps us move within our cities, design that moves our industries, design that moves our minds".

Tarek Hreish and Farah Kayyal (Aperçu Designs), Rand Gharaibeh and Dania Khasawneh (Alaq), Katia Al Tal (Nuwa Creations) and Aymen Azzam are some of the featured designers, whose work fill the Hangar space rehabilitated by TURATH: Architecture and Urban Design consultants and the Greater Amman Municipality.