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Amman Design Week 2019: The Six Exhibitions You Should Check Out

09.11.19 | By
Amman Design Week 2019: The Six Exhibitions You Should Check Out

The third edition of Amman Design Week takes place this October 4-12, 2019. The nine-day program will draw in designers, makers, innovators, and creators to showcase the creative talents in Jordan and around the world. Filled with tours, student exhibitions, pop-up events, workshops, musical performances, and more, there’s no shortage of things to do, see, explore, and discover. We’ll be on the ground covering the show so be sure to follow our Instagram @designmilk to see live coverage! Will we see you there, too? ADW is free and open to the public and trade so there’s no reason you shouldn’t go!

Until ADW arrives, here are the six main exhibitions you should know about before attending the show:

The Hangar, exterior

The Hangar exhibition, curated by architect and Head of Architectural Affairs at the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities Noura Al Sayeh-Holtrop, will house over fifty designers from the Middle East and North Africa who will explore the theme of “possibilities.” This theme applies to large scale design (like that of the city) and small scale design (like that of the object). It will be interesting to see how participants of the exhibition will think differently to imagine new possibilities of design.

Project by Greening the Camps

Freedom Machine by Bashar Humeid

Sustainability is a key issue in today’s society and is especially an important factor when it comes to food. Similarly to The Hangar Exhibition, the Future Food/Future City exhibition, created in collaboration with Greening The Camps, will also explore possibilities; that is, possibilities in looking at the future of food. Through a holistic approach that covers all parts in the modern day food chain – the way food is grown, processed, transported, consumed, used, and recycled – the exhibition will challenge the audience to evaluate current practices and how to implement modern tools to benefit our bodies, society, and ultimately, the world. Of course, as the tastiest exhibition, you’ll be able to sample local traditional cuisine throughout.

Bayouda Farming Collective

Dubbed the most popular exhibition at Amman Design Week, you can stop by the Crafts District to discover the act of making across multiple disciplines, including weaving, ceramics, and textiles. Here, you’ll learn from makers and artisans as they showcase the beauty of their crafts, methods, and heritage.

The Student Exhibition

With new talent comes new design. At the Student Exhibition, students in Jordanian high schools and universities pair up with industry practitioners through a mentorship program that helps students bring their designs to life.

Rare Arabic prints in The Beautiful Books Trove archive at The El Harf House

A philosopher named George Santayana once said, “To know your future, you must know your past.” At the Jordan Script Routes exhibition, you’ll discover the cultural history of Jordan in relation to its neighbors through exploratory and playful installations, all presented through the various writing systems and alphabets of the region. As such, the three sections of the exhibition are subtitled Of Letters & Coins, Of Letters & Silk, and Of Letters & Stones.

Last but not least, the Material Innovation exhibition, created in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, will explore the craftsmanship of textiles. There has been an on-going trend where designers take the traditional methods of creating textiles and tweak them using contemporary tools and materials to create modern interpretations. This exhibition will cover all aspects of the textile industry, from materials processes and techniques to new applications and uses.

‘Stereomono’ by Andre Mcheileh at the Innovative Crafts Lab in The Crafts District

‘Diskur’ by Paola Farran at the Innovative Crafts Lab in The Crafts District

Amman Design Week opens its doors October 4-12, 2019. Learn more about the full program of events here.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She's probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.