Here are some highlights from ‘Fashcultivate,’ which runs until February 8 at 1971 – Design Space in Dubai.
‘Um Rashid’
Hessa Al-Suwaidi
“Fashcultivate” is an exhibition of commissioned pieces inspired by the date palm from a number of regional designers, including Emirati textiles designer Hessa Al-Suwaidi, whose work merges traditional techniques (in this case, safeefa — palm-frond weaving) with digital photography and illustrations.
‘The Palm Tree of Life’
Khalid Mezaina
Mezaina — founder of his own studio and brand, Krossbreed — contributes this woven carpet as his tribute to the date palm. Mezaina embroidered and screen printed illustrations of the tree onto the carpet using green to symbolize leaves and brown to symbolize trunks within a red outline.
‘Faraara’
Maryam Omaira
The Emirati designer, who established her eponymous fashion and jewelry brand in 2012, created a typically experimental and bold piece for “Fashcultivate,” producing a striking spiky dress with a silhouette that is reminiscent of the outline of the palm tree’s fronds.
