Turning the Spotlight on Behind the Curtains at Tanween 2024

While Tanween 2024, Saudi Arabia’s leading design conference-cum-festival by Ithra established its strong intent in design education, Behind the Curtains, an exhibition co-curated by Isola Design Group and Ithra, echoed the theme of the festival, Failure to Success was acknowledged as an inspiration to many aspiring designers.

Behind the Curtains was not open to the public along with the design festival Tanween 2024. It had a surprise reveal that made the exhibition more compelling. When Tanween’s Creativity Conference Lead, Shahad Alwazani took to stage and the curtains lifted, the backstage come under spotlight to reveal the exhibition space, taking the name of the exhibition quite literally. When the curtains were lifted, Behind the Curtains came to life with colourful curtains as light, porous screens between the different design studios that exhibited their craft process.

Isola, the brainchild of Elif Resitoglu and Gabriele Cavallaro, creative directors and co-founders of Isola Design, has recently opened its Dubai office providing visibility and opportunities to independent designers through physical events and digital presence.

Ithra and Isola have a history together; they had worked quite successfully on previous exhibitions, one of which showcased designers from the region through Routes to Roots exhibition at the Milan Design Week 2024. The mutual understanding and ease for collaboration was thus already established.

But as a design exhibition, Behind the Curtains was not the archetypal exhibition. Here was an exhibition that focused on the failing points, the journey the designers make to reach their final goal, their mishaps, their flaws being celebrated, for it was these steps that lead the designer to the final product.

“Like a rehearsal, where one rarely considers the challenges that led to the final act, we wanted visitors to experience and appreciate the hard work and failures that shape every design,” explains Elif Resitoglu, one of the creators of Isola.

We talk to Elif Resitoglu to understand the role they played in making this one-of-a-kind exhibition to the Arab region.

SCALE: Tell us about your association with Ithra and how it has resulted in two wonderful exhibitions.

ELIF: Our collaboration with Ithra began during Milan Design Week 2023 when they participated in one of our exhibitions, showcasing the outcome of their Tanween challenges at our Circolare exhibition. This event featured over 50 projects from designers worldwide, all focused on circular and sustainable design.

This participation led to an extended partnership where we co-curated and conceptualised five amazing exhibitions. The Routes to Roots exhibition, for instance, has traveled across different countries, including Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, and Italy, with varying selections of designers and innovative showcase setups. This collaboration has been instrumental in building meaningful connections between cultures and promoting creativity on a global scale.

 SCALE: How long did you work on the concept of Behind the Curtains? Is this the first time that a theme of failure is being in the spotlight?

At Isola, we always place significant emphasis on the story behind a project, not just the final product. We believe that understanding and emotionally connecting with a piece through its journey is essential. For this exhibition, we specifically focused on failure—allowing visitors to see and even physically interact with examples of failures. It highlighted how failure varies for designers pursuing perfection and how it is an essential step in creating refined, high-quality work.

For established brands with decades or generations of history, failure is often hidden in their long-term growth. However, for independent designers, failure becomes a defining part of their identity and growth process. This exhibition was titled Behind the Curtains because it metaphorically represented a rehearsal and literally exhibited at the theater stage of Ithra. Like a rehearsal, where one rarely considers the challenges that led to the final act, we wanted visitors to experience and appreciate the hard work and failures that shape every design.

SCALE: How did you arrive at your contingent of designers showcased in this exhibition? Do you keep a criterion?

Elif: We did follow a specific selection criterion: designers had to represent diverse countries, backgrounds, and techniques. The exhibition featured a variety of methods, from glassblowing to experimental sustainable production, traditional weaving to 3D printing, and even innovative approaches like using robotic arms for bending traditional materials such as copper.

It is worth noting that Ammar Kalo, one of the participating designers based in the UAE, is an Arab designer. The goal was not to exclude any group but to maintain a wide variety of practices and perspectives.

SCALE: Your takeaway from Ithra, Failing Forward, and the best moments.

Elif: One of the most emotional moments for me was when the curtains opened for the first time after the opening ceremony, and visitors stepped onto the stage to see the exhibition. Watching their amazement, curiosity, and genuine involvement as they interacted with the pieces and participated in the designers’ workshops was truly heartwarming. It’s those shared experiences that make such collaborations so meaningful.

SCALE: How different is the culture of design, when comparing Italy and the Middle East, keeping in mind that both are in completely different stages of development, with the Middle East just beginning its journey in design exploration?

Elif: It’s fascinating to see how Middle Eastern design is evolving. It embraces contemporary lifestyles while preserving traditional motifs and celebrating cultural differences. The region is working hard to carve out its own identity rather than adopting Western design entirely, which is admirable.

In Italy, the design industry is incredibly mature, but saturation can sometimes be a challenge for young and emerging designers trying to find their place. Observing these contrasting approaches is enriching and shows that, regardless of geography, navigating today’s fast-paced world of design is not easy. The key is to keep working, learning, and innovating.

SCALE focuses on three designers showcased during Behind the Curtains.

Marrying Technology with Tradition

Ammar Kalo. Sharjah/UAE

Kalo is a design practice that navigates the intersection of digital technology and craft. The practice is the vision behind UAE-based Ammar Kalo who is not just a designer but a researcher and an educator with his work already recognised and acquired by Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and auctioned at Christies in London.

He strongly believes and even educates his students on the philosophy of failing, “Fail quickly, fail early,” he says, “Failure is the biggest teacher and an opportunity to explore and test ideas.”

His work showcased is a process that was first intended for research making custom architectural facade models and then later developed to produce products.

“This is part of a research project utilising robotic arms to form flat metal sheets into three dimensional shapes without using moulds.”

Material and its Inherent Liberty

Siyu Liu. Barcelona/Spain

Siyu Liu is an architect-cum-designer originally from China but currently based in Spain whose work challenges the boundaries between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art.

Her designs are a result of personal exploration and experiences, cultural heritage and a playful rebellion against conventional expectations resulting in thoughtful and often joyful creations.

She started with natural palm leaves but moved on to Raffia paper which she found as an incredible alternative that offers a range of colours and is biodegradable.

“Working with raffia has taught me that creation is a process if trail and error, often filled with failures. But its when these failures occur that real innovation happens,” she says,“I see this process as an adventure, where uncertainty excites me and pushes me to discover new forms of expression.”

Between Tradition and Innovation

Pieces of Jade/ Jia ling Lee

Taipei City/ Taiwan

An industrial designer from Taiwan, Jia ling Lee was deeply interested in handcrafted objects especially home décor with strong cultural elements. She studied textiles to pursue the blend of material and craft which led her to forming Pieces of Jade.

She creates 3D objects using fabric and embeds them with quilting patterns to create unique objects with stories of cultural history.

“The technique used to create these vases is called quilting and I use heavy fabric to sew it while keeping the object in a 3D shape. The challenge is controlling both the machine and the handwork,” says Lee.

All Images Courtesy Ithra and Isola