Tashkeel – a leading proponent of creativity and innovation – will celebrate a decade of incubating design projects in the UAE through its Tanween design programme, unveiling four new works that have been conceived, created and will now be commercially available at Downtown Design during Dubai Design Week 2023 from November 7-12.

Taking centrestage at Downtown Design are the four new sustainable furniture and lighting pieces developed by the latest Tanween cohort: Marwa Abdelrahim, an Abu Dhabi-based architect; Wafa Al Falahi, an Emirati multidisciplinary designer; Chinara Darwish, a former mechanical engineer from Kazakhstan, and Maryam Elattar (a ceramic artist) & Mohamed Elnaggar (an electrical engineer), both from Egypt.

Since its inception in 2014, Tanween has trained 36 early-career design professionals, resulting in 49 original furniture and lighting designs both developed and manufactured in the Emirates. Today, 23 of these limited-edition pieces are offered to collectors through Tashkeel's furniture and lighting series, The Tanween Collection.

“Tashkeel’s Tanween Design Programme empowers emerging designers to embark on a journey of innovation, guided by a passionate team of design professionals and local manufacturers and makers. With a decade of learning and a range of products now available to collectors, our program has cultivated original, sustainable pieces that underscore the creativity and capability to produce these works right here in the UAE," said Lisa Ball-Lechgar, Deputy Director at Tashkeel.

While the forms of the four new Tanween works will be officially revealed during Dubai Design Week, all the designers and their pieces share a common focus on sustainability of materials and the production process, especially pertinent as the UAE prepares to host COP28 in late November.

The Mishkah Collection by Marwa Abdelrahim combines traditional lighting techniques from the UAE with 3D printing, incorporating clay as a sustainable material. Wafa Al Falahi’s Roots lighting design pays tribute to her Emirati women ancestors through a combination of steel and biodegradable plastic materials infused with henna. Chinara Darwish used 100 per cent locally sourced, marine industry and construction waste sourced from redundant marine marker buoys, dredging floats, road barriers and water tanks to develop her dining table design, The Alchemy Series that celebrates hospitality and family. The shelving unit/standing desk Doroob, developed by Maryam Elattar & Mohamed Elnaggar, is a triumph of the circular economy, made from reclaimed materials from the UAE’s construction and infrastructure sector as well as pottery studios.