On the occasion of the Design East exhibition, the second Majlis Talks session zooms out to a wider Global South to look at emerging design across West, South, Southeast and East Asia. More specifically, the speakers will look at how practitioners are turning to local materials and preservation of craft traditions to create innovative contemporary design that plays with textile arts.

Rue Kothari combines regional insight with a passion for design and an extensive knowledge and experience of the global design industry. London and Dubai-based Rue is a key figure in the regional design industry and a vocal advocate for emerging local talent. She launched Harper’s Bazaar Interiors magazine in Dubai in 2011 and then served as Director of Downtown Design from 2015 to 2020, building considerable local knowledge over 15 years in the UAE. Rue continues to champion the regional design industry, commentating in various international publications and speaking at global events, to help educate and enlighten the global audience on the growth potential of the ME design industry.

Nour Hage's work is as an exploration of Middle Eastern identity, cultures, history and storytelling with a particular focus on the role of women, the supernatural and mental wellbeing.

Following a rewarding career in fashion, since 2007, Florence-based artist Lisa Batacchi has been exploring the emotional bonds between the individual and the society by visualising singular and collective memory through a diverse creative universe, that ranges from film and photography, to live performances, installations and public art interventions.

4.30-5PM
28 February 2023
The Yard

About the Moderator

Rue Khotari combines regional insight with a passion for design and an extensive knowledge and experience of the global design industry. London and Dubai-based Rue is a key figure in the regional design industry and a vocal advocate for emerging local talent. She launched Harper’s Bazaar Interiors magazine in Dubai in 2011 and then served as Director of Downtown Design from 2015 to 2020, building considerable local knowledge over 15 years in the UAE. Rue continues to champion the regional design industry, commentating in various international publications and speaking at global events, to help educate and enlighten the global audience on the growth potential of the ME design industry.

About Majlis Talks

Majlis Talks, curated by Mahnaz Fancy, bring together artists, curators, researchers and art-world professionals for an evening of thoughtful and inspiring conversations.
The majlis has always provided the necessary form to plant the seeds of connections; a common ground for discussion and sharing. From the majlis we begin a convergence of differences, mingling vantage points, allowing new questions to rise.

Starting at 4pm on 28 February 2023 and running across six 25-minute sessions, this year’s Majlis Talks will see conversations with Fatima Ali, Lubnah Ansari, Loa Haagen Pictet, Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, Sara Raza, Rana Begum, Dr Cliff Lauson and more.