‘Disarming Design from Palestine’ programme to be hosted by Amman Design Week, Darat Al Funun

AMMAN — Amman Design Week (ADW) is collaborating with Darat Al Funun to host a team of designers from Jordan, Palestine and the Netherlands for an educational exchange experience under the programme “Disarming Design from Palestine”, a statement from the ADW said.

 Based in Ramallah, the programme unites Palestinian craft communities, contemporary designers and artists with master’s students from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, in a bid to exchange knowledge, experiences and techniques. 

Both parties will collaborate in an effort to develop a line of “thought-provoking” products that speak of Palestine’s current reality. These products will then be sold both locally and internationally to spread alternative stories about the Palestinian issue and reflect upon the function of creative practice in situations of conflict, the statement added.

This year’s programme is coming to Amman with the aim of engaging Jordanian designers and local craftswomen from Palestinian refugee camps in the Jordanian capital. The participants are invited to share their stories, skills and knowledge, in reference to the Palestinian diaspora, according to the statement. 

The workshop, taking place in September, will include sessions at Darat Al Funun’s “The Lab” and at a local refugee camp.

During the workshop, the team of designers will be working closely with the Palestinian artisans in Jordanian refugee camps, to jointly design new and useful products. 

A selection of the workshop’s designs will be taken to production and later exhibited for sale at “The Lab” during the Amman Design Week, taking place from 6-14 October 2017.