Raku And Metamorphosis
Dubai is the regional hub for creative talents and on the occasion on Dubai Design Week 2020, I wanted to highlight two specific ones: Michael Rice and Pallavi Dean.
When I launched Design Days Dubai in 2012, it was hard to find design talents based in the UAE. Nearly 10 years later, I have witnessed not one but already two generations of designers. The first one has blossomed from their university studies, the second one is from the strong presence of international professionals now based in the UAE.
Michael Rice Ceramics
Michael Rice is the only one in the UAE who has mastered this high and exquisite level in ceramics. The Irish artist and designer is also the Chair of the Department of Visual Communication and Associate Professor of Studio Art at the American University in Dubai. He specializes in ceramics and is particularly interested in firing procedures such as Raku, Smoke and Saggar firing; his work is also is concerned with surface, texture, natural geometry, gestalt principals and archetypal forms. Since 2010, he lives and works in Dubai.
On the occasion of Dubai Design Week, Michael Rice is presenting new stunning pieces. To him, clay, with its legacy of endless transformation, is limitless possibilities, always willing the maturity and fruition of ideas.
His work is on display in the UAE Designer Exhibition.
“Metamorphosis” carpet range by Pallavi Dean for Zuleya by FBMI
Designers Pallavi Dean & Ana Carreras from Roar have launched the “Metamorphosis” carpet range at Downtown Design 2020 - a collaboration with Zuleya, the newly created retail brand by the Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative - FBMI, which sells sustainable handmade carpets and lifestyle products made by women in Afghanistan. The profit from Zuleya’s sales is invested back into FBMI, supporting thousands of women and their families in Afghanistan.
The carpet, handwoven by women artisans in Afghanistan, is inspired by butterflies of the UAE and Afghanistan, including the Indian Red Admiral and Eastern Pale Clouded Yellow. It’s a modular carpet, designed to adapt to a range of spaces, from offices and hotels to homes and schools.
Zuleya by FBMI is committed to creating handmade carpets that set the benchmark in terms of sustainability and design for generations to come, which is why collaborating with award-winning designers, such as Pallavi Dean, is an opportunity to do just that – raising the bar, one knot at a time, for both traditional and modern craftsmanship.
In 2017, I initiated the ‘You & I’ collection, a collaboration between Nada Debs and FBMI.
In 2019, Pallavi Dean unveiled ‘Interweave’ for Artemide at Salone del Mobile, Milan.
