Queen Rania Visits Amman Design Week’s Crafts District Before Event’s Launch in September

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Amman) - With only three weeks to go until the largest design event in Jordan’s history kicks off, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, a passionate advocate for innovation and creativity, checked on the progress of preparations under way for Amman Design Week (ADW) in downtown Amman on Monday, where the unprecedented nine-day event will commence on September 1st.

She visited the Crafts District at the Raghadan Tourist Terminal, one of three sites hosting Amman Design Week’s exhibitions and activities, and met with several designers who shared their work and ideas with Her Majesty.

H.E Dr. Aqel Biltaji, Mayor of Amman, along with ADW Co-Directors Rana Beiruti and Abeer Seikaly, received the Queen and gave her a tour of an exhibit. Then, Her Majesty met with the designer and curator of the exhibition, Dina Haddadin, and her colleagues Khaled Ali and Norma Qubti.

Her Majesty also walked through the tourist terminal, stopping at the preliminary set up of the Wild Jordan pop-up shop, and the jewelry and accessories shops. Then, she met with designer Diana Rayyan, who explained her use of recycled materials to create the installed canopies. The Queen continued to the Cultural Plaza, where designer Liyan Jabi showcased Zawayed, an initiative which has empowered women and youth in local and marginalized societies to discover their creative potential.

To end her visit, Queen Rania met with Graphic Designer Hussein Al Azaat, who leads Wajha, a social initiative that aims to help the community by providing design services for free, and Abdelrahman Al Joukhi, an 86-year old calligrapher, who demonstrated his use of oil paint to draw signage for all the shops in the exhibit.

Amman Design Week aims to revive the Raghadan Tourist Terminal as a social space for craft. Jordan’s craftspeople who have kept their methods, traditions and aesthetic values alive, will be celebrated at this event for inspiring today’s contemporary design practices. The exhibition will feature craftspeople from across the country, as well as their collaborations with designers, and encourage the exchange of knowledge, techniques, and materials while preserving the link between cultural heritage and design.

The event will hold over 100 activities and exhibitions at the Hangar and the Jordan Museum, in addition to workshops and talks across 40 spaces around the city, offering visitors the opportunity to interact with designers and modern digital fabrication tools and technologies.

Amman Design Week will host the work of more than one hundred local and regional designers and is expected to attract 10,000 visitors.