Tashkeel is pleased to announce the seven designers selected for the 13th edition of the Tanween Design Programme: Alia AlShamsi (UAE), Ahmad Al Kattan (Syria), Nethra and Kaushikk Ganesan (India), Rashed Alnuaimi (UAE), Rawdha Alhosani (UAE), Ayah Alkhatib (Palestine), and Abdulla Abbas (UAE).
For the 2026 Tanween programme, the selected designers will embark on an eleven-month journey of research, experimentation, and making, exploring material-driven design and locally rooted production. Working closely with manufacturers, fabricators, and industry specialists, the cohort will develop innovative, functional design outcomes that contribute to the evolving narrative of a contemporary UAE design aesthetic.
The Tanween design programme was initiated in 2013 by Tashkeel and the late Roanne Dods, co-producer of Small is Beautiful. Alumni include Alya Al Eghfeli (UAE), Amer Aldour (UAE), Abdalla AlMulla (UAE), Ebrahim Assur (Cape Town), Eman Shafiq (Pakistan), Hala Al Ani (Iraq), Hamza Omari (Jordan), Huda Al Aithan (KSA), Ibbini Studio (UK/Jordan), Khaled Shalkha (Russia), Khawla Mohammed Al Balooshi (UAE), Lana El Samman (Lebanon/Canada), Latifa Saeed (UAE), Lina Ghalib (Egypt), Lujain Abulfaraj (KSA), Lujaine Rezk (Egypt), Myrtille Ronteix (France), Nada Abu Shaqra (Palestine), Neda Salmanpour (Iran), Nuhayr Zein (Egypt), Rand Abdul Jabbar (Iraq), Reema Al Mheiri (UAE), Renad Hussein (Jordan), Saher Oliver Samman (UK), Salem Al Mansoori (UAE), Sara Abu Farha (Palestine), Shaza Khalil (Egypt), Studio MUJU (UK/Egypt), Talin Hazbar (Syria), Tasneem Tinawi (Syria), Yara Habib (Lebanon/Canada), Zeinab Al Hashemi (UAE), Zuleika Penniman (USA/Lebanon), Majid Al Bastaki (UAE), Khadija Al Mazimi (UAE), Rimsha Kidwai (PAK), One Third Studio(UAE/Iraq), Samara & The Poet Studio (UAE/Jordan), Osama Rashad (Egypt). Hessa Alghandi (UAE), Jasim Alnaqbi (UAE), Sketch & Space Studio (UAE), Nasser Alghawi (UAE), Tasneem Al Nabhani (Oman), Clock & Cloud Studio (CZ/IND), Sarah Al Dulaimi (UK).
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Mentors
Kevin S. Badni is the Head of the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, Zayed University. Previously, he was the Head of Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Product Design from Loughborough University and his Master’s in Multimedia Design from De Montfort University in the UK. Before becoming an academic, Badni spent ten years as a professional designer working in the design industry, including managing the UK’s first commercial Virtual Reality centre. His main research area of interest is the personal perceptions of vision; he has had his art exhibited in galleries in the UK, Australia, America, Colombia, Italy and the UAE.
Helen Voce is a supporter of creative people and creative industries. As an independent project manager, event and programme producer in the creative industries she works locally, nationally, internationally and voluntarily from her base in Scotland. She designs, facilitates and produces opportunities, initiatives and spaces in which creative practitioners, microbusinesses and projects can realise their full artistic and business potential. Her professional specialism and personal interest is contemporary craft and design. Amongst other things, Voce is Regions Coordinator at Make Works, Co-Producer of Applied Arts Scotland’s Digital Craft Toolkit for the British Council {Thailand} and a Board Member of Fife Contemporary. Previous roles include business development programme / workshop facilitator and mentor at Emergents, Open Project Fund Assessor at Creative Scotland, Mentor on the British Crafts Council’s Hothouse development programme for emerging makers and Crafts Programme Producer at Cove Park, Scotland’s international artists’ residency centre. A postgraduate of the Royal College of Art / Victoria & Albert Museum’s MA in the History of Design and Material Cultural, 1650 to the present, Voce has previously worked for Cultural Enterprise Office, the British Crafts Council and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Current Participants
Alia AlShamsi
Studied Photography with a focus on Social Documentary at Griffith University Australia and later pursued a Master’s in Photo-Image from Durham University UK, with her thesis exploring the archive and...
Ahmad Al Kattan
Multi-disciplinary concept designer and architect from the past of the future with a form-follows-function approach in a modernist sense, curating innovative and forward-thinking designs that are ahea...
Nethra Ganesan
Nethra Ganesan is a RIBA Part 2 architect, maker and spatial practitioner. She holds a MArch+AA Diploma from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, UK. Currently an Architect and Produc...
Kaushikk Ganesan
He is an Industrial Engineer with a degree in Engineering Management from Stevens Institute of Technology, drawn to the intersection of systems, materials, and human experience. He is driven by how de...
Rashed Alnuaimi
Rashed Alnuaimi is an award-winning, multi-faceted artist whose work spans music, film, theatre, and design. With a foundation in design and formal training in theatre, his practice bridges discipline...
Rawdha Alhosani
Rawdha Alhosani is an Abu Dhabi–born multidisciplinary designer with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Interior Design from Zayed University. Her practice explores the relationship between culture, materia...
Ayah Alkhatib
Aya Alkhatib is a Palestinian architect, published researcher, and designer based in the United Arab Emirates. Her practice investigates how material traditions and craft knowledge can shape contempor...
Abdulla Abbas
Abdulla Abbas is an Emirati architect exploring how design can reflect the Gulf’s cultural and environmental identity. A graduate of the American University of Sharjah, he is devoted to cultivating a ...
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