"When cultures connect, we create beautiful things,” states the website of Qatar’s Years of Culture programme. Morocco has been the 2024 partner for the initiative, a year-long international exchange shedding new light on crafts, skills and lessons from both heritages. This year’s Design Doha residency programme brought together nine artists and designers from Qatar and Morocco, and the culmination of their project, called Crafting Design Futures, will be exhibited at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha from 30 November. Artists were exposed to heritage craft practices from each other’s countries, and were then given the freedom to reinterpret them with their own contemporary and innovative perspectives, through mediums such as textiles, ceramics and woodwork.
“Celebrating and spreading knowledge of heritage craft techniques is vital for sustaining cultural identity and ensuring that traditional knowledge is not lost. These crafts carry the narratives of generations, the ingenuity of our ancestors and a deep connection to place and community,” curator Gwen Farrelly tells MOJEH. “This exchange encourages the preservation of traditional craft, as well as the evolution of new creative expressions, allowing designers, artists and craftspeople to learn from one another while offering a platform to reinterpret and preserve heritage in new ways.”
Sara Ouhaddou
French-Moroccan Artist in Paris
Growing up between the South of France and Meknes, Sara Ouhaddo has always felt deeply connected to her Moroccan heritage. And as she grew older, it was her return trips to Morocco and time spent with her aunts that sparked her enthusiasm for traditional craftsmanship. Each of them were craftswomen with their own niches — from weaving to embroidery. “Observing the techniques they used and understanding the political, economic and cultural dimensions of these art forms made me want to delve deeper and collaborate with other artisans,” says Sara, whose own creative streak was clear from an early age. “I had always been a maker, using whatever materials I could find — scraps of fabric, wood and the belongings of those around me — to create elaborate toys,” she tells MOJEH.
Today, Sara prioritises the survival of artisanal craft techniques in her work. She hopes to see a resurgence of glassmaking in Morocco, which she says has a rich history and offers endless possibilities for artistic expression, yet is no longer a widespread practice in her home country. This ancient craft is one of Sara’s current fascinations and areas of focus, and for her final project she drew inspiration from glass creations in Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art, creating a collection of 30 pieces in a range of sizes. “This work revives a lost craft of glassblowing in Morocco and explores the concept of different vessels that house various objects,” she explains. “Each piece serves as both a functional object and as a narrative vessel that invites viewers to engage with the stories and cultural continuities behind Moroccan craftsmanship.”
The exchange of knowledge — learning traditional techniques while sharing her own perspectives — created a dynamic environment for innovation, and this process of engaging directly with artisans was what was most enriching for Sara: “It reminded me of the importance of community in the artistic process, and how it can lead to the creation of works that honour tradition while still going on to embrace contemporary narratives.”
Majdulin Nasrallah
Palestinian Interdisciplinary Designer in Qatar
Transforming the political into pieces of art has become the trademark mission of Qatar-based Palestinian designer Majdulin Nasrallah, who once converted tear gas canisters salvaged from Bethlehem and Nablus into candle holders shaped like keys. She called the project 1948 — a tribute to the year of the Nakba — and imbued her creations with deeply personal metaphors, from the shape of the holder symbolising the key of return, to the wax of the handmade candles representing the resurgence of hope. “Each material was selected with deliberate intention,” says the artist, who infused the candles with scents of olive, thyme, sage, orange, fig and jasmine. “I believe that the political is personal in its essence, and I try to reflect this in my work. I incorporate my heritage in ways that allow my work to become a medium of documentation, protest and resistance.”
Majdulin, who holds a Master of Fine Arts in design from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, turned her creative lens toward the traditional Moroccan rug-making process for this upcoming exhibition. Her final piece is a handmade rug crafted in collaboration with Beni Rugs, fusing the traditional Moroccan flat- weave technique with cross-stitch patterns. “The motif designs are inspired by the cross-stitch technique in Palestinian tatreez, and are derived from Palestine’s current landscape — which is interrupted by man-made structures of control like the apartheid wall, segregated roads and checkpoints,” she tells MOJEH.
Textiles have been a source of both joy and enlightenment for Majdulin, who teaches Palestinian embroidery and has spent the past few years learning about the ways in which culture and history are embedded in fabrics. “I find beauty and comfort in the slow process and hand-made nature of traditional weaving and embroidery. Be it rug weaving or textile embroidery, both call for a meticulous process that invites the maker to become immersed in their work,” she explains. She adds that there is an inimitable communitarian quality to such crafts, which are typically practiced within women’s collectives while participants create and converse: “The process naturally invites storytelling, and we always leave the tatreez circle feeling a strong sense of community and purpose.”
Reema Abu Hassan
Palestinian-Canadian Architect and Designer in Qatar
For Reema Abu Hassan, connecting with the land is a process that’s both soulful and tangible, as she forages clay directly from the Qatari desert for pottery and ceramics projects. “It is a symbolic practice for me, linking me to the landscape that has sustained generations,” she tells MOJEH. “Back in my Doha studio, transforming this raw clay into a workable material through sieving, purifying, and wedging the clay is a slow and meditative process. It’s a tactile experience that ties me to the land and culture of Qatar. Each piece I create with this clay becomes a dialogue between nature and craftsmanship, grounding me in my heritage while honouring the long tradition of ceramics in the region.”
Reema founded Clay Encounters in 2018 to revive the social practice of pottery and create a space where craft and design enthusiasts could connect with one another. “There were no ceramic studios then, and I saw a need for a space where this craft could thrive,” she says. For Reema, clay is a source of infinite creative possibilities. “The tactile nature of clay draws me in because it is responsive and adaptable — I embrace flaws and variations because they remind me of the authenticity of the process, and I enjoy incorporating them into my designs,” she explains.
In Morocco, Reema found similarities with the traditional craft of zellige tile making, distinguished by its intricate geometric patterns. She spent time with a master craftsman and was inspired by his precision and inherited artistry, and adapted these techniques into her own practice back in Qatar. For the upcoming exhibition, she has created a series of artifacts that are inspired by the zellige libraries in Morocco that are dedicated to passing down the craft to future generations. She pairs locally-foraged Qatari clay with stone, paying homage to Moroccan architecture and reimagining zellige tiles as three- dimensional objects. “The artifacts sit gracefully amid Qatari sand, grounding them in a natural context echoing the desert landscapes of Morocco and Qatar,” says Reema, whose thoughtful inclusion of sand enhances the sensory experience, reinforces the connection to the material and invites meditation and contemplation.
Nada Elkharashi
Egyptian Interdisciplinary Research Designer in Qatar
In 2021 Nada Elkharashi connected with three other innovators through an online Google competition, who were interested in the intersection of Biodesign, technology and people. The group ultimately created Electric Skin, an invention which harnesses bacteria and humidity to generate energy. This year, they produced a self-charging battery that stores energy from the air, showcasing it on Arabic-language television show Stars of Science. “Electric Skin reimagines energy as fluid and sustainable, untethered from the rigid, disposable nature of conventional hardware,” says Nada. “There is an unspoken dialogue between who we are and the objects we surround ourselves with — a quiet but profound conversation between tradition and functionality. Through design, I explore this dialogue, allowing the behaviours of the past and present to speak to one another, shaping new forms that feel both familiar and forward-looking.”
For Crafting Design Futures, Nada tells MOJEH that she was not inspired by a particular craft, but rather by a story told by a Moroccan guide about a 66km-long water pipeline that stretches across two cities in Morocco to carry water to areas in need. “It wasn’t just about the infrastructure itself, but the way it reflected a deep understanding of the land and the challenges it presents,” says Nada, who used this story as the foundation for her project, called 66km. Exploring the invisible yet ever-present relationship between air, water and the materials we craft from nature, Nada decided to find a way to capture humidity from the air, transforming the pipeline from a structure to a metaphor for how we learn from nature and from each other, to create something that sustains us. Her creation, which incorporates tactile elements inspired by traditional crafts, reflects a design method that aims to collect water and recycle it for consumption, highlighting the importance of sustainable practices in everyday lives. “It engages viewers with the themes of resource conservation and cultural connection, encouraging reflection on our relationship with the environment and the need for positive change,” says Nada.
Crafting Design Futures will be on display at Doha’s Museum of Islamic Art from 30 November 2024 to 7 January 2025
Originally published in the November 2024 issue of MOJEH Magazine. Subscribe here
