International design conference

Tasmeem 2005 held recently in Qatar brought students in the region together with international design gurus

A conference of daring and provocative designers.” This is how Christina Lindholm, Dean of Doha’s Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Arts described Tasmeem 2005, Qatar’s second international conference on design.

The four-day event, organised by VCU recently, attracted a number of acclaimed international designers and art students from across the Middle East.

Graphic designer April Greinman, fashion expert Valerie Steele, designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and editor and designer David Wolfe were some of the leading figures of the design world who attended the conference at Qatar’s Education City.

Seven hundred participants, which included students from the American University in Dubai, had the opportunity to interact with the international design gurus and learn design.

Internationally-recognised architect Fred Dust, interior designer Shashi Can, Hollywood costume designer Ruth Carter, design writer Rick Poynor and Qatari businessman Ebrahim Jaidah gave them an insight into the strategic, social and customer issues associated with design trends and innovations.

Organised by the VCU in collaboration with the Qatar Ministry of Civil Affairs and Housing and the Qatar Foundation, Tasmeem was more than a design conference, the organisers said.

It was research on how design can open the way to cultural dialogue, innovation and the creation of new forms of expression.

At the same time it offered the young generation of Gulf and Qatari nationals the opportunity to shape their society through their artistic skills.

“Building a tradition, this conference has become a multi-disciplinary venue for designers to discuss and design for the future … Design, the currency of our time, can be a catalyst for change in Qatar,” said Leland Hill, Chairman of the Tasmeem 2005 committee.

VCU students have already started contributing to this change by using their design skills and imagination to create forms of art visible across Doha city.

From the interiors of Education City and the printed material at the Ministry of Civil Affairs to the uniforms for the Doha Asian Games 2006 and the new logos for the new Doha taxi service, the art students have shown that they are up to the challenge set at the first Tasmeem conference one year ago.

They have proved that they can help give Qatar a unique cultural identity in the face of the country’s rapid industrialisation. 

“This is the message the conference wants to spread reaching out to Middle East arts and design students, asking them to show us what they can do and giving us a reason to believe and continue to support local designers,” said one of the organisers.

“In a time when Gulf societies are developing, the influence of design is an invaluable resource, a catalyst with the potential of promoting innovation, preservation and harmony within a society.”

But the objectives of Tasmeem this year were not only to promote the importance of design as a vehicle of innovation and change in Middle Eastern society.

The event also aimed at developing a community of design educators and practitioners in the region.

For this purpose, a series of workshops, ranging from typographic to textile design, offered students, faculty and professionals the opportunity to learn and discuss design concepts throughout the Middle East.

Participants this year included designers and arts students from Turkey, Iran, India, the UAE, Bahrain, Canada, Egypt, France, Jordan, Lebanon and the UK. A student project exhibition featured design works from students across the Middle East.