- Joud Malhas and Rachel Antoun win Van Cleef & Arpels Emergent Designer Prize
The 11th edition of the Van Cleef & Arpels Emergent Designer Prize has named its winners: Joud Malhas, a Palestinian-Jordanian spatial and interior designer and Lebanese creative Rachel Antoun. The prize, organized by jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels in collaboration with Dubai design incubator Tashkeel, continues its mission to support and foster creative talent across the Arab world. Each year, it invites designers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait to propose functional works that interpret a designated theme through materiality, form and innovation. This year’s theme, Blooming Poetry, called for bold, thoughtful designs rooted in local culture, sustainability and storytelling.
Malhas and Antoun’s winning concept, “Where There Is Uns,” captivated the jury with its thoughtful storytelling and sensory experience. Inspired by the Bedouin practice of lighting fires to welcome travelers with shelter, warmth and guidance, the light installation incorporates cardamon husks to reference the traditional offering of Arabic spiced coffee with cardamom and repurposes the husks into bioplastic sheets. These semi-transparent layers are suspended above the lamp’s travertine-ring base, creating a gentle and elegant contrast.
“Winning the Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize, in partnership with Tashkeel, alongside my partner Rachel Antoun, is deeply meaningful,” Malhas told Al-Monitor. “It validates the way I perceive design as something multidimensional, shaped by materiality, cultural memory, storytelling and its ability to evoke emotion.”
As part of the award, the winners will participate in weeklong courses at the Dubai campus of L’ÉCOLE, the School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels. This will be followed by a five-day immersive experience at L’ÉCOLE’s Paris campus at the iconic Hôtel de Mercy-Argenteau, along with visits to partner museums across the city. The winning piece will be unveiled to the public later this year in a dedicated exhibition.
Find more information here.
- ‘Collage Art Exhibition’
Taking place in Dubai’s newest independent bookstore and cultural hub Kutubna Cultural Center, this exhibition presents works by a group of artists from 24 countries, showcasing over 70 artworks across physical and digital media that reflect the artistic practice of collage. Exploring themes of identity, migration, belonging, resilience and the tension between tradition and modernity, the works draw on methods pioneered by early 20th-century collage artists such as Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.
The exhibition marks a unique occasion to explore contemporary collage in the UAE and beyond. On view are works by Emirati artist Mariam bin Hammad, Batool Khalifa, Egyptian artist Mohammad Danyl Zaheer from Afghanistan, Vera Volodina of Russia and Alberto de Blobs, a Barcelona-based graffiti writer, painter and mural artist, among others.
Date: until Aug. 31
Location: Kutubna Cultural Center, Madina Avenues Shop 17A, Dubai
Find more information here.
- ‘Unfolding’ by Moza Al Falasi
In this exhibition Emirati artist Moza Al Falasi channels her grief over the loss of her parents and, more recently, her husband through visual art and photography. Marking her first solo exhibition, the works explore memory and the emotions associated with loss. The works on show are the culmination of Al Falasi’s journey through the yearlong Tashkeel Critical Practice Program, which was launched in 2014 and provides UAE-based artists with 12 months of funding, studio access and mentorship.
Date: until June 26
Location: Tashkeel, Nada Sheba 1, Dubai
Find more information here.
4. Book of the week: ‘Dubai Tales’
“Dubai Tales” by Muhammad al Murr, translated by Peter Clark, is a collection of short stories that was first published in the United Kingdom by Forest Books in 1991. The collection, capturing daily Emirati life, was later published in Dubai by Motivate Publishing in 1994. For readers interested in reading about everyday life, social change and modern transformation in Dubai during the 1990s, the book captures a period of profound change through love, family life, Emirati hospitality and humor.
A man practices stand-up paddleboarding along the beach at the Anantara The Palm Dubai Resort in Dubai on June 6, 2026. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP via Getty Images)
- Since its establishment in 2008, Tashkeel, founded by artist Sheikha Lateefa bint Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has staged around 76 exhibitions (36 solo shows and 40 group shows) with 505 artists, according to Artfacts.
- Tashkeel currently consists of a 2,800-square-meter building, which was built in 1987, in the district of Nad Al Sheba, Dubai, and originally served as a supermarket before becoming a nursery and later a center for art. It includes a gallery and studios for the practice of specific artistic disciplines such as fine art, printmaking and textile printing, a dark room for photography, a library, a lounge, garden and various workspaces.