View of the 'Gradient Mashrabiya Sideboard' by Mischer'Traxler and Roger Tohm - a wooden sideboard featuring individual wooden pieces on one side and flat wood on the other, pictured against a light grey background
'Gradient Mashrabiya Sideboard' by Mischer'Traxler and Lebanese artisan Roger Tohme, shown by Carwan Gallery at Design Days Dubai
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Dubai, the heartland of the Middle East and a country with only 40 years of history, is approaching the outside world with an open mind and welcoming arms. Already a playground for international starchitects, it is now luring in international designers and galleries too. Last week it played host to Design Days Dubai, the first fair dedicated to collectible design in the Middle East, which saw a troop of international and local galleries come together to flaunt their wares before the region's growing breed of eager collectors.

DDD’s director Cyril Zammit conceptualized, organized, marketed and executed the fair in the space of just eight months, strategically starting it a few days ahead of Art Dubai, when many of the local collectors were already starting to scout for new works.

A total of 22 galleries from around the world gathered in the spacious, purpose-built tent in front of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, hugged by shopping Mecca, the Dubai Mall. It brought together fair regulars like Carpenters Workshop Gallery from London, Priveekollektie from The Netherlands, Nilufar from Milan, as well as 20th-century dealers like La Galerie Nationale from Paris and R20th Century Gallery from New York.

Local players included Wallpaper* Design Award-winner Carwan Gallery, and SMO Gallery from Beirut. There were also some fresh names in the line u, such as Sao Paulo’s +Coletivo Amor de Madre and Seoul’s _Croft, who had its first showcase of work outside its hometown.

Some of the most well-received pieces included the Austrian-based design studio Mischer’Traxler’s ‘Gradient Mashrabiya Sideboard’, designed for Carwan Gallery. Working with Lebanese artisan Roger Tohme, they translated 'mashrabiya' – a typical Middle Eastern architectural feature, incorporating lattice woodwork – into a sideboard composed of a network of more than 650 individual pieces of hand-carved wood.

Rodrigo Almeida’s ‘Oxum chair’ for +Coletivo Amor de Madre (which translates as 'a collective of mother's love') gave us an idea of what post-Campana Brazilian design could be. Meanwhile, Beirut-born Najla El Zein caught attention with an elegant light sculpture for SMO Gallery, entitled ‘6302 Spoons’.

The education program also played an important part in DDD. Live design performances by Korean designer Kwangho Lee and Amsterdam’s Studio Drift, as well as seminars on investing in design-art by Li Edelkoort and Rabih Hage, were organized to cultivate and encourage the future generation of design collectors.

The four-day fair and a ladies-only afternoon attracted over 8,500 visitors from around the region. Strong sales were reported by some galleries, and others spoke about the importance of bolstering their contacts in the Middle East, but the pervading feeling at the fair was of an eagerness for creative 'newness', and an excitement about the future of the design industry.

Individual wooden pieces on shelves that were used to make the 'Gradient Mashrabiya Sideboard' by Mischer'Traxler and Roger Tohme

The sideboard comprises 650 individual pieces of hand-carved wood

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The red, black and white Design Days Dubai fabric banner blowing in the wind with a view of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in the background during the day

Design Days Dubai was held in a purpose-built tent in front of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, and beside shopping Mecca, the Dubai Mall

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A large red, black and white Design Days Dubai sign with two people standing in front of it

The graphic identity, by Raad Haider, channelled the colours of the Dubai flag

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View of the '6302 Spoons' sculpture by Najla El Zein - a dark sculpture that resembles the skin of a reptile

'6302 Spoons' by Najla El Zein, at the SMO Gallery stand

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View of 'Arab Spring Map' by Bokja Design - a distressed red, black and brown antique rug with a bright coloured map design in the centre hanging on a wall

'Arab Spring Map' by Beirut-based Bokja Design. The antique carpet represents Arab’s traditional values. It is in a dilapidated state, like many of the discarded ideals, and is in need of resurrection. The mood is that of optimism and rejuvenation. The symbols are many, among them a woman riding a horse on the road to a new and unknown world.

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View of 'Living Space III' by Karen Chekerdjian - a multi-use black and rattan piece of furniture

'Living Space III' by Karen Chekerdjian for Carwan Gallery

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View of the 'ARABI Chandelier' by Khalid Shafar - a dark coloured chandelier made from silk ropes and circular pieces

'ARABI Chandelier' by Dubai designer Khalid Shafar for Carwan Gallery

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View of 'Extrusion Series' by Philippe Malouin - circular wooden pieces of varying heights with patterns

'Extrusion Series' by Philippe Malouin for Carwan Gallery

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Close up view of 'Refraction Tiles' by Blatt Chaya and Lindsey Adelman - black, grey, white and beige geometric tiles

'Refraction Tiles' by Blatt Chaya and Lindsey Adelman for Carwan Gallery

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View of a light sculpture by Leo Capote - a dark sculpture made using various hand tools, metal and a bulb

Light sculpture by Brazilian designer Leo Capote for Coletivo Amor de Madre

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View of the 'Oxum' chair by Rodrigo Almeida - a wooden chair featuring colourful shapes, beads and rope

'Oxum' chair by Brazilian designer Rodrigo Almeida for Coletivo Amor de Madre

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View of a circular piece made from rope and a mirror by Brazilian designer Rodrigo Almeida

A work by Rodrigo Almeida for Coletivo Amor de Madre

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View of 'Bank Shovel' by Leo Capote - three stools with shovel seats and triangle bases in red, yellow and blue colours

'Bank Shovel' by Leo Capote for Coletivo Amor de Madre

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View of the '0121-1110=111094' chair by Jaehyo Lee - a circular sculpted light wood and black chair

'0121-1110=111094' chair by Jaehyo Lee for _Croft

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View of the 'Foundrie Table' by Gregor Jenkin - a very long dark coloured table with a black design on the sides featuring small squares

'Foundrie Table' by Gregor Jenkin at the Southern Guild stand

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View of 'Porcelein Mandalas' by Christina Bryer - a black and white mandala hanging on a light coloured wall

'Porcelein Mandalas' by Christina Bryer, at the Southern Guild stand

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View of the 'Love Me, Love Me Not' table by John Vogel and Justin Plunkett - a wooden table shaped like a flower made up of individual petal-shaped tables that can be used separately

'Love Me, Love Me Not' low table by John Vogel & Justin Plunkett, at the Southern Guild stand

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Four colourful posters featuring Arabic fonts on a white wall

The Khatt Foundation Type Design Workshop provided an opportunity for local design students to develop contemporary Arabic fonts

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View of a seated audience during a talk with one person wearing a black head scarf featuring writing and illustrations of perfume bottles

A contemporary adjustment to the traditional Shela, sported by an audience member of one of the many talks in the DDD programme

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View of 'Lightweight Porcelain' by Djim Berger and the 'Luciferase' lamp by Nacho Carbonell - four colourful structures that resemble yearn and a dark grey and white sculpted table lamp against a dark blue background

'Lightweight Porcelain' by Djim Berger, and 'Luciferase' lamp by Nacho Carbonell, at the Galerie BSL stand

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View of Europe's La Galerie Nationale exhibition stand featuring white walls, black flooring, a green and red table with a lamp and a black sculpture on the table

The stand of Europe's La Galerie Nationale, which has just opened a Middle Eastern branch on Al Serkal Avenue in Dubai’s new art district, Al Quoz

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View of the 'Enignum Low Table' by Joseph Walsh - a light wood and glass table shaped like a leaf in a room with black flooring and white walls

'Enignum Low Table' by Joseph Walsh, at the Nilufar Gallery stand

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View of 'Totem' by Martino Gamper - a black and silver bookshelf with several books on it

'Totem' by Martino Gamper, at the Nilufar Gallery stand

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View of the 'Alice' armchair by Philippe Bestenheider - a gold chair featuring multiple 'spinner' type shapes in a space with dark grey flooring and white and red walls

'Alice' armchair by Philippe Bestenheider, at the Nilufar Gallery stand

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View of the Franziska Kessler Gallery exhibition space featuring various pieces by different designers in gold, black, white, red, blue and red colours

Franziska Kessler Gallery showed works by Christian Astuguevieille, Wendell Castle, Thomas Heatherwick, Barber Osgerby, Gioia Meller Marcovicz, and Hannes Wettstein

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View of three stools in black, white and blue silver colours by Hannes Wettstein and the 'Écritures Rug' by Christian Astuguevieille which is black and off-white coloured

Stools by Hannes Wettstein, and 'Écritures Rug' by Christian Astuguevieille, at the Franziska Kessler Gallery stand

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View of the wooden, cane and leather 'Rio' lounger by Oscar Niemeyer, 1978, and the brass and glass 'Vine' pendant light by Jeff Zimmerman

'Rio' lounger by Oscar Niemeyer, 1978, and 'Vine' illuminated sculpture, by Jeff Zimmerman, at the R20th Century Gallery stand

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View of 'Ice Angel' by Dominic Harris and Cinimod Studio - a female figure with her arms stretched out in front of a black and white digital background with angel wings

'Ice Angel' by Dominic Harris and Cinimod Studio, at the Priveekollektie stand

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View of 'Skin Louis XV' by Arik Levy - a small wooden console style table with one leg and a large asymmetric mirror above it

'Skin Louis XV' by Arik Levy, at the Priveekollektie stand

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View of 'Ion' by Carolina Wilcke - a wooden, green and blue structure with a light in the centre on a small white plinth

'Ion' by Carolina Wilcke, at the Priveekollektie stand

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View of the Southern Guild exhibition space featuring various pieces including a table, seating, wall art and lighting

The Southern Guild stand

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View of green and cream coloured ceramic vessels by Jang Jin against a purple and blueish coloured background

Ceramic vessels by Jang Jin at the Gallery Seomi stand

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View of the golden version of 'Lathe' by Sebastian Brajkovic - a circular seat with two armrests

A golden version of 'Lathe' by Sebastian Brajkovic at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery stand

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View of 'Lathe V' by Sebastian Brajkovic - a grey and red chair with a rainbow style backrest that continues down one side of the chair

'Lathe V' by Sebastian Brajkovic at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery stand

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View of 'Meltdown' by Tom Price - a blue chair that resembles a ball of yarn and another chair in the background featuring a PVC hose design

'Meltdown' by Tom Price at the Victor Hunt Designart Dealer stand

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View of the Victor Hunt Designart Dealer exhibition space featuring the 'Stitching Concrete' series by Florian Schmid, a large black and red floor lamp and other pieces

The Victor Hunt Designart Dealer stand, with the 'Stitching Concrete' series by Florian Schmid in the foreground

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Yoko Choy is the China editor at Wallpaper* magazine, where she has contributed for over a decade. Her work has also been featured in numerous Chinese and international publications. As a creative and communications consultant, Yoko has worked with renowned institutions such as Art Basel and Beijing Design Week, as well as brands such as Hermès and Assouline. With dual bases in Hong Kong and Amsterdam, Yoko is an active participant in design awards judging panels and conferences, where she shares her mission of promoting cross-cultural exchange and translating insights from both the Eastern and Western worlds into a common creative language. Yoko is currently working on several exciting projects, including a sustainable lifestyle concept and a book on Chinese contemporary design.