Tashkeel is pleased to announce the five designers selected for the 13th edition of the Tanween Design Programme: Alia AlShamsi (UAE), Kattan (Syria), Nethra Ganesan (India), 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 a base in Scotland. Freelance, she designs, facilitates and produces opportunities, initiatives and spaces in which creative practitioners, micro-businesses and projects can realise their full artistic and business potential. With a professional specialism and personal interest in contemporary and heritage craft and design, current and former clients include Tashkeel, the British Council, Creative Scotland, the European Crafts Alliance, Crafts Council UK, Make Works and Cove Park international artist residency centre.
Current Participants
Alia AlShamsi
Alia AlShamsi born in Dubai in 1982, is an Emirati-Italian multidisciplinary artist, author, curator, and cultural strategist whose practice explores memory, archives, folklore, and identity through p...
Kattan
Ahmad Kattan is a Syrian multidisciplinary concept designer, architect, and founder of Kattan Design, an award-winning design research studio working at the intersection of architecture, material rese...
Nethra Ganesan
Nethra Ganesan is an architect, maker and spatial practitioner. She holds a MArch+AA Diploma from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, UK. She is currently an Architect and Exhibition...
Ayah Alkhatib
Ayah Alkhatib is a Palestinian architect and multidisciplinary designer based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Working across furniture, objects, and spatial design, her practice moves between research, craft,...
Abdulla Abbas
Abdulla Abbas is an Emirati architect and designer based in Dubai, where he currently works at Foster + Partners. A graduate of the American University of Sharjah, his work explores the ways in which ...
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