In partnership with
The Fikra Designer-in-Residence 2019 program is initiated and organized by Fikra in partnership with Misk Art Institute.
The Fikra Designer-in-Residence Program is a design residency program aimed at international and UAE based designers who seek to conduct design research and delve into an experimental process of making. The program is designed to encourage the creation of new work and engage in intellectual discourse relating to contemporary design practice and visual culture.
Misk Art Institute is a non profit organization operating under the auspices of Misk Foundation. Established in 2017 with an objective to encourage and develop a Saudi leading platform for creative artistic production and to empower and support Saudi artists. In addition to nurture the appreciation of Saudi and Arab art and enable international cultural diplomacy and exchange.
The 2019 program provides 4 resident designers [2 from the UAE and 2 from Saudi Arabia] with a unique opportunity to develop a self-directed design project, which will be exhibited in both countries after the completion of the residency.
Layan Attari
Layan Attari lives and works in the UAE. Her research spans diverse media, frequently using photography and her graphic design practice to inform her artwork. Her work has been featured in several group exhibitions in the UAE including Campus Art Dubai Open Studio at Project Space Art Jameel (2017), Cry Me a River by Office Run (2018) and Design House by Mobius Design Studio (2013). She received her BSc in Multimedia Design from the American University of Sharjah in 2011 and has recently received a Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artists Fellowship, in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design (2019).
Mashael Alshammary
Mashael Alshammary is an Architect who graduated with a BA in Architecture from Portland State University, and received an M.A. in Architecture from Woodbury University, California. One of her main research topics is ‘light’ as a means to generate form. Mashael is interested in exploring the modernization of the ornamentality of the Qamariyah, the traditional multi-colored and stained-glass windows.
Moylin Yuan
Moylin Yuan is a designer and poet in Dubai, UAE. Over the past 5 years, she has worked with a number of organisations and not-for-profits within the UAE’s arts and culture field, such as Barjeel Art Foundation, Jameel Arts Centre and most recently, Alserkal Avenue. She has also been part of Campus Art Dubai Core (CAD) iterations 5.0 and 6.0, conducting research in human movement, astronomy and the ways we communicate. Her current work investigates the commonalities between historical financial systems and modern transactional systems from a MENASA perspective, while looking at the production of value within these systems.
Sara Khalid
Sara Khalid is a conceptual designer based in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Her work investigates the relationship between fantasy and reality by manipulating visual and audible mediums in order to create immersive artworks. She received her BA in Graphic Design and Multimedia from Imam Abdulrahman University, Dammam. She is interested in narratology, and her design practice is conceived as a language beyond words whereby she delves into the connection between new technologies and traditional media.