ATÖLYE Dubai is excited to continue hosting Negative Space, a fearless exploration into the conversations we are not having around Arab identity in contemporary design. In this 5-part feature, we challenge our roles as designers in shaping a collective cultural identity, paying close attention to what’s missing, and imagining what could be.
Hosted by Alya Al Noaimi and Farah Sabobeh, each episode invites a panel of regional creative leaders, scholars and thinkers to explore one of five design languages—visual, written, spatial, moving, and social. Together, we try to better understand where we have fallen short in telling our story to the world.
Episode 2: Written Language
The Arabic language has always evoked deep emotion, whether feelings of warmth or alienation, comfort or shame.
In Episode 2, we invite guest panelists Maryam Wissam Al Dabbagh (co-founder, Rouya Consultancy), Lujain Abulfaraj (co-founder, Twothirds Design Studio), and Pascal Zoghbi (founder, 29letters) to explore the role of Arabic in the creative process.
Join us on a journey to rediscover and reclaim the Arabic language through design as we dare to reimagine our experience of the Arabic language as creatives. Going into the Negative Space, let’s dream up how we can design our future with Arabic, instead of around it. Let’s imagine what could be, and what legacy we want to leave behind.