Mette Degn-Christensen, Director of Downtown Design, offers a preview of this year’s event
The latest edition of Downtown Design and Dubai Design Week is currently underway in the city. Held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and member of Dubai Council, the yearly fair invites regional and international brands, designers and creatives to showcase their talent and creations to industry professionals and potential clients. This year’s programme of events across Dubai Design Week and Downtown Design, which run in parallel, will once again highlight Dubai’s growing importance in the global design industry. This edition will focus on designing for a sustainable future and will outline trends and developments in the industry over the past 12 months. Here, we talk to Mette Degn-Christensen, Director of Downtown Design, to find out what to expect.
What can we expect from this year’s edition of Downtown Design?
Last year we marked the fair’s tenth anniversary and so this year we’re looking forward, always with change in mind. We have been asking ourselves what experiences we want people to have and what we want to do differently. As well as ‘what do we want people to learn and discover?’ We want to make sure that everyone has an interesting experience.
Can you tell us about Editions Dubai, which will launch this year? What types of works will be showcased here?
Editions is going to be one of this year’s highlights. It’s a joint project between Art Dubai and Dubai Design Week, and it brings limited edition pieces from galleries and individual designers around the world to one exhibition setting. It will feature contemporary design and art pieces in the form of works on paper, ceramics, prints, photography etc. It’s not affordable per se, but it’s not unreachable in terms of price point. There is nothing else like it in this region, and even internationally, you don’t see anywhere that has a format like this. I think people will be surprised that they can go and find some really interesting pieces – there will be a wide range of objects from all over the world from a huge range of price points. I’m super excited about it, and I’ve already got my own list of what I want to buy!
Tell us about some of the talks to visit this year at The Forum.
Every year we have a great programme of talks, but this year it’s fantastic. There is much attention on this region and some great talent coming here and great brands setting up here, and with that, we are seeing a lot of people wanting to get involved and, therefore, the access that we have to people of a certain calibre in The Forum is really of a different level this year.
Any other highlights to look out for?
The De Gournay lounge is fantastic. It is a brand that creates mesmerising handmade wallpaper that I personally love. It’s a very cool brand that’s definitely worth checking out. And then the last thing I would say is that the UAE Designer exhibition has really taken a step up this year.
Can you expand a little on that and how the event supports and showcases regional talent?
This exhibition started in 2020 when we all had to rethink what we were doing after Covid. We did an extensive survey within the creative community to find out what they needed, and it was clear that everyone needed commercial opportunities. Before that, commercial was considered a bad word, especially when you’re communicating with creatives or artists. I think that was a pivotal point when people realised that we all need to make money, and if we don’t have commercial opportunities, we can’t pay our bills. So we set up the initiative that year to allow people to market themselves among their peers and potential clients and audiences, to see how they can further develop their products, and specifically to sell. So, the word “commercial” started to have a different impact. We soon realised that the initiative really made a difference to a lot of people who had their work featured in the exhibition, and it became an annual highlight. Omar Al Gurg, who is the curator of this year’s exhibition was actually a participant in the 2021 edition and, as a result, decided to set up his practice.
So this year, in the fifth edition, we are looking at trying to remember why it came about and then going back to the initial opportunity, but also thinking about the next generations and making sure that they have a community and mentorship. We have 32 participants, and Omar has managed to design the entire exhibition as an experience as opposed to focusing too much on each individual product or design. It has a full concept, and a lot of the objects speak to each other. A lot of the designers have already started collaborating with each other which is nice to see.
And then, aside from the UAE designers exhibition, we have the Design in Saudi Pavilion that’s specifically for Saudi talent, we have the Tanween programme, which is run by Tashkeel, and then we have individual regional designers as well. Beyond that, the forum also gives space to early-stage career studios, who can come and show their expertise and meet with industry professionals.
What do you think are the benefits of an event such as this for the UAE?
This is something that we consider all year, beyond November. When speaking to brands, buyers, interior designers, and architects around the world, I realise that the access to any kind of product or solution here is just not the same as in other markets that have had hundreds of years of artisanship or developed infrastructure when it comes to the creative industries. So, as soon as we see the result of a brand coming into Downtown Design, it could be a brand that is considered mainstream elsewhere in the world – and benefitting from that, there is a ripple effect – brands open up showrooms, they have dealerships – and it helps to expand overall the offering that we have in the UAE, both B2B and B2C. Over the years, I have seen the change, and even within two years, we have really seen the ripple effect of brands coming into the landscape.
What are some of the international brands showcasing that we should look out for and what are some of the benefits for them to be involved?
Some of the highlights this year will for sure be big names like B&B Italia, and Poltrona Frau. There are quite a few exciting Danish brands this year. Another brand I love is Atelier Vierkant, as well as Saint Louis, Kartell, and Haberdashery. Our mandate is to focus on high-quality, contemporary design, and we are starting to see a lot of those kinds of brands coming through and doing well.
What can you tell us about the design industry in the UAE today and how it’s growing?
When I first moved to Dubai I remember one of my friends saying that it’s so to be part of building a country. And that kind of stuck with me as it is really true. What’s happening now in the design industry is really exciting, and we are actually part of establishing something that’s going to change how the future looks, not only from the creative industry side, but also the look and feel of locations within the UAE. Everything is changing now, and it’s very exciting.
There are many challenges of course. Some of them I didn’t think so much about earlier, like the logistical side of how brands actually get into shops and the distribution, as well as the perception that minimalist style isn’t so popular here, but I think this is hugely changing. Today, we are seeing brands really focusing on The Middle East, and there’s a big shift happening overall, which is super exciting to be part of.
What else would you like to see happening in this industry?
My main mandate is quality driving and pushing the contemporary design scene, and I know there is a huge market for it here. There is still work to be done. I think there is a lot of price point education around collecting and copying that needs to happen. There’s work that needs to be done on a government level but also on a manufacturing level.
There are a lot of great minds setting up design studios and coming up with great ideas here, but it still makes more sense financially to manufacture in Europe and ship things in, which is crazy both from a social responsibility point of view but also that then we are not actually making locally. I think this is something that will change and it would be great to see it developing over the next five years.
What’s the biggest challenge you face in your position today?
There are so many things that we want to do and not enough time, so it’s a question of finding priorities annually because you can’t do everything at once.
What’s something you would still like to achieve in your role?
There’s so much I want to do. We are just about to go international now for the Group’s first event overseas in Riyadh next year. We have several initiatives and fair elements that we want to take internationally. I can’t give too much away at the moment, but we have a lot of ideas for the region that we want to start implementing.
What are some of the interesting regional trends you currently see in the design industry?
Straight after Covid, we started seeing a lot of nudes and soft tones, and then we went straight back into colour and joy. And what we’ve seen in the past year and a half is a focus on social responsibility. We are really going back to our roots, looking locally. Asking what interior design elements can mean for our health and its impact on us. There is a focus on the responsibility of the designers as well as a focus on using sustainable materials. I think this is so much more than a trend; it’s a shift in the industry.
What would be your advice to upcoming and aspiring designers and creatives?
My first piece of advice is always to figure out your identity in what your work is. Then, figure out how to package that and build a sustainable business around it because you have to create something viable and there’s a need for it in the market. And then don’t be afraid of the commercial side, because without it you won’t go very far.
What’s a final message you would send to readers on why they should visit the fair?
It is the place to be in November. I think there is really something for everyone in the fair, from the B2B element to the consumer side – I go there to buy my Christmas presents! It’s a great day out, and there is always something to learn.
Dubai Design Week is running until the 10th of November, with Downtown Design running until the 9th of November at Dubai Design District (d3).
