Isola returns to Dubai Design Week with three exhibitions:  from Turkish design to material consciousness

Isola

Isola, creator of the namesake digital and physical design platform, participates for the second year in a row in the Dubai Design Week which will take place in the Dubai Design District from 7 to 12 November 2023. The Dubai initiative is part of a wider project to introduce the Isola design community to the international audience by participating in the London Design Festival and the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.

More than 60 designers, creators, craftsmen, and design studios will fly to the Emirates to showcase their work within one of the three exhibitions conceived by Isola: Anatolia, Nothing Happens if Nothing Happens, and RETHINK: A Materials Experience.

ANATOLIA

Downtown Design, Dubai Design District d3 Waterfront (8—11 November 2023)

Conceived by the Isola curatorial team and part of Downtown Design fair. Anatolia is a collective exhibition, inspired by the great crossroads of ancient civilizations. The show will highlight Anatolian design and will have an atmosphere reminiscent of the Silk Road, a historic trade route that linked the East and the West, creating a vital hub for cultural exchange within the territories that it traversed.

“Being myself from Turkey, I am very excited that for the first time Isola is putting together a collective that aims to embody the new Anatolian lifestyle. The exhibition combines traditional and innovative techniques with contemporary and luxury design, which reflect the unique mix of ancient and modern influences that characterize the Turkish region.

affirms, Elif Resitoglu, cofounder and creative director of Isola Design Group.

More than 25 Turkish and Middle Eastern designers, design studios, and brands will present their projects and research within the Anatolia exhibition. For the occasion, Isola, in collaboration with Canan Eren from Grob Design, designed a booth recreating a Kervansaray, an ancient resting place for caravans and travelers where visitors will exchange ideas, enhance their network, join workshops, and purchase a selection of lifestyle objects by the participating brands and designers.

Among the participants: Abrahamm Creative Studio, Alpaq Studio, Atelier Terra Madre, Creande, Ekin Varon Tasarım ve Mimarlık LTD., Figure, Geza Ceramic Studio, Grob Design, Hakan Helvacıoglu Design.Co, Idil Hamarat / Tomas Atelier, Macaroni Event, Maison de Mara, OD ART & DESIGN, Serra Cilizoglu, Studio Lugo, Studio Monsoleil, Studio Tim Tim, Studio YellowDot, Yet Design Studio, and ZEYNEP BOYAN.

NOTHING HAPPENS IF NOTHING HAPPENS

Dubai Design District (7—12 November 2023)

Within the Dubai Design District, Isola presents its traveling curatorial exhibition “Nothing Happens If Nothing Happens” which features products with a conscious circular design approach, with a focus on the use of regenerative resources, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and repurposing waste materials.

Sponsored by iGuzzini, the exhibition will also be the backdrop for workshops and talks conceived in collaboration with DesignTech.

RETHINK: A Materials Experience

Colab – Dubai Design District (R02, Building 1B) (7—12 November 2023)

Part of a wider collaboration including London Design Festival and Dutch Design Week, Colab, the Dubai-based first purpose-built material library in the United Arab Emirates, will open its doors to the Isola design community.

RETHINK: A Materials Experience will present market-ready products realized with natural raw resources, biomaterials, and industrial waste selected by Isola’s curatorial team and materials samples featured in Colab’s extensive library. 

The collaboration between Isola’s creative director, Elif Resitoglu, design studio IAMMI, Italian start-up ReMat (specializing in mattress waste recycling), and the Dutch brand The Good Plastic Company continues for the “Nothing Happens If Nothing Happens” and “RETHINK: A Materials Experience” exhibitions. This ongoing partnership aims to create and design the layout of the exhibitions, with a focus on reusing and repurposing all elements, thereby enhancing the commitment to genuinely sustainable design.

In the coming weeks Isola will present its program of events and the full list of exhibitors on display.

ABOUT ISOLA

Isola is the world’s first digital and physical platform bringing visibility to independent designers and design studios, by connecting them to design professionals, companies, curators, journalists, and potential clients. Its dedicated curatorial team selects projects with a focus on sustainability, innovation, and handcraft.

Isola also organizes various in-person events under the umbrella of Isola Design Festival, which takes place throughout the year, during Milan Design Week, Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven (Netherlands), and recently Downtown Design in Dubai, hosting dozens of exhibitions, hundreds of exhibitors, and thousands of visitors.

Founded in 2017 in Milan, Isola Design District immediately became one of the main official areas of the Milan Design Week, with special attention to international and emerging designers. Since 2019, Isola Design District has also participated in the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, becoming the first Italian design district to participate in a foreign event.

Isola expanded its borders even further in 2022, when for the first time it led a curated group of designers to the United Arab Emirates for Downtown Design during Dubai Design Week, and in 2023 by taking part in Material Matters at the London Design Festival and Tanween 2023, Ithra’s Season of Creativity, the largest creativity platform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Launched in 2021 with more than 1.000 designers from 65+ countries and 1,700+ projects published, Isola offers a community for creative people around the globe through its digital platform, with dedicated profiles and portfolio pages. The digital platform aims to spark direct community interactions, discussions, and the sharing of expertise.

Moreover, via the upcoming Marketplace by Isola, each verified designer and creative studio will get the chance to sell their physical products, digital assets, and NFTs.

CREDITS & INFORMATIONEN

LOCATION Dubai Design District (d3)
DATES 7—12 November 2023
OPENING HOURS 10am—6pm

SPONSORS iGuzzini, ReMat, The Good Plastic Company
PARTNERS 3DD Factory, Colab, DesignTech, IAMMI
MEDIA PARTNERS  DesignWanted, La Casa in Ordine, Love That Design

Photocredits: Courtesy Palmade, Colab, Anwyn Howarth, IAMMI, İbrahim YILDIZBAŞ, courtesy Atelier Terra Madre, courtesy Figure and Soner Ataş, courtesy of OD Art, Ali Gulsener, Tuğçe Seçen

CONTACTS

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