JERUSALEM.- Charting a recent phenomenon that has taken root in Israel’s contemporary design scene, Design in Arabic shines a spotlight on an emerging class of Arab designers in Israel who are drawing on the traditions of Arab material culture to develop a new vocabulary across fashion, textiles, graphics, and jewelry. The exhibition is the first in Israel to explore the contributions of this pioneering generation, showcasing new commissions by Samah Batheesh, Hazar Grably, Shady Majlaton, Gadeer Slayeh, Sofi Abushakra. The exhibition is on view in the Israel Museum’s Design Pavilion from July 28 through March 2024.

“Design in Arabic captures an important moment in the trajectory of contemporary design, bringing to the fore some of Israel’s most innovative young practitioners who are pushing their respective disciplines in new directions,” said Rami Tareef, Curator of Design and Architecture at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. “Their work is a testament to how the universal language of design can be a powerful vehicle for resistance and a profound expression of identity in the face of social injustice.”

“The Israel Museum is a place for exploring global cultures in all their complexity, a topic that resonates in Israel as a country shaped by different communities with intersecting histories,” said Denis Weil, the Anne and Jerome Fisher Director of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. “In providing a platform to these designers, we hope to bring visibility to the creativity arising out of Arab communities in Israel as an important contributor to both the design scene of the Middle East, as well as internationally.”

The last decade has seen a significant rise in the number of Arab students graduating from art and design academies across Israel, evidencing an increasing interest within Arab-Israeli society in the research and study of various disciplines in the field of design. Programs at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art and the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, among other leading design schools have played a significant role in incubating talent and launching the careers of a new class of influencers in the world of Israeli local design.

The works on view represent their creators’ aspiration for marginalized voices to be heard through contemporary artifacts, garments, and objects, each in a unique way. The exhibition will shed light on the designers’ recurring tendency over the last decade to shift their gaze inward to portray their culture and history through their individual designs. Employing contemporary frameworks and education paradigms to formulate a new aesthetic approach to their own culture, the designers integrate East and West, offering a holistic interpretation of a new material identity. The designers include:

• Shady Majlaton (Fashion Designer, East Jerusalem), whose fashion house embraces individuality and aims to research, showcase, and express several cultural groups between various identities and gender.

• Gadeer Slayeh (Jewelry Designer, Eilabu) creates handmade statement jewelry that takes inspiration from her Arabic culture, blending traditional influences with modern elements such as clean lines and geometric shapes.

• Hazar Grably (Textile Designer, Jaffa) has a textile practice of developing wearable, embroidered garments that comment on the clash between traditional gender roles and the realities of being a woman in contemporary Arab society.

• Samah Batheesh (Jewelry Designer, Buq’ata) draws connection between her cultural identity as a Syrian Druze woman raised in the Golan Heights, and a feminist approach to her own body through jewelry pieces that provoke an intriguing dialogue between individual, collective, and national identities.

• Sofi Abushakra (Architect and Designer, Kabul) harnesses algorithmic technology to illustrate the generational transformation in language, education, craft, and women's status in her family and in the Arab society in Israel. Over three generations, she examines the changes, achievements, and empowerment of Arab women.