Tasmeem Doha Podcast | Powered by afikra

In this episode of the @Tasmeem_Doha podcast, we asked Wael Morcos, the founder of Morcos Key, about the dos and don'ts of designing an Arabic typeface in 2024. He talks through the realities of such a task, about Nasri Khattar's influence with his unified Arabic typeface, whether there's a Comic Sans equivalent in Arabic, and gives insightful examples on the topic.

Wael Morcos is a graphic designer and type designer from Beirut, Lebanon. Since graduating from Notre Dame University with a BA in Graphic Design, he has worked on developing identities and Arabic-Latin bilingual typefaces. In 2013, he completed a MFA at RISD and went on to found Morcos Key, a Brooklyn-based design studio that collaborates with art and cultural institutions, non-profits and commercial enterprises in North Africa and the Middle East.

Connect with Wael 👉 https://www.instagram.com/waelmorcos/

Tasmeem Doha is a biennial international conference that focuses on unique and contemporary themes in art and design. For 2024, the theme of the event is “Under Construction”, which is both a metaphor for creative research as well as a celebration and investigation of transformation. It is also a state that Doha has found itself in for decades: a transformation that has presented an outsized impact on the residents of the city.

Under Construction will also explore the past, present and future of VCUarts Qatar’s flagship event Tasmeem Doha. As part of the 25th anniversary of VCUart Qatar's campus in Doha, the event will bring together voices from the past, present and future of various disciplines involved in this cycle of rethinking and remaking.

Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns

Hosted by:

Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu/

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

Watch other episodes in this series:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xACvhOprM03PXJms10_3g

ABOUT AFIKRA

afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.

📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters

🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts

⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official

🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Tasmeem Doha 2024's theme is "Under Construction". Richard Lombard, the conference's curator for this year, joins us to dive into the theme and understand the creative and logistical realities of putting a conference like this together, and which audience he has in mind when planning.

Through the conversation, Richard shares various experiences of Tasmeem Doha over the years and how each iteration has been the unique brainchild of the individual curator. We ask him what he expects from this year's Tasmeem Doha, and he shares his hopes that attendees walk away enriched and empowered by understanding their place within the broader creative community.

Richard Lombard is a materials specialist with experience in Art, Design, and Education. He taught for six years at VCUarts Qatar as an assistant, then associate professor in the MFA.DESIGN program. During his time there he also created and worked as the curator of the Materials Library. He now works as a Curatorial Consultant to Qatar Museums.

Tasmeem Doha is a biennial international conference that focuses on unique and contemporary themes in art and design. For 2024, the theme of the event is “Under Construction”, which is both a metaphor for creative research as well as a celebration and investigation of transformation. It is also a state that Doha has found itself in for decades: a transformation that has presented an outsized impact on the residents of the city.

Under Construction will also explore the past, present and future of VCUarts Qatar’s flagship event Tasmeem Doha. As part of the 25th anniversary of VCUart Qatar's campus in Doha, the event will bring together voices from the past, present and future of various disciplines involved in this cycle of rethinking and remaking.

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

Watch other episodes in this series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yer0GYFnNLk&list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xACvhOprM03PXJms10_3g

ABOUT AFIKRA

afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.

📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters

🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts

⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official

🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

We’re looking back over 25 years of Tasmeem Doha – one of the region’s leading and most influential design initiatives – and chatting with six VCU Qatar faculty members and key players who have helped make it what it is today. This conversation, entitled 'unearthing inspiration' explores 25 years of Tasmeem from all different angles.

With associate professors Simone Moscholino and Maysa Al-Mumin, we talk about what metrics of success look like for Tasmeem Dohaand what challenges its able to take up in a way that the Academy can't. Maysa and Simone shed light on the fundamental role of an Art Foundation and share how Tasmeem Doha has impacted their own work and creative processes.

Tasmeem Doha is a biennial international conference that focuses on unique and contemporary themes in art and design. For 2024, the theme of the event is “Under Construction”, which is both a metaphor for creative research as well as a celebration and investigation of transformation. It is also a state that Doha has found itself in for decades: a transformation that has presented an outsized impact on the residents of the city.

Simone Muscolino is an associate professor and the director of the Art Foundation program at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar. He is a multidisciplinary designer engaged in a research practice concerned on audio-visual culture, and time-based media. Muscolino art-directed the video production of several design and architecture firms and worked for both the movie industry and advertisement agencies.

He co-founded and partnered Interaction Design Lab, a Milan based company working in the crossover between technology and design. Muscolino served as visiting professor and video consultant at Interaction Design Institute Ivrea, where he was also one of the project leaders of e1 (Exhibition Unit), a design unit active on various projects for public and private clients. He also taught at Architectural Association London, NABA Milan, Strelka Institute Moscow, IED Rome, Domus Academy Milan, Fachhochschule University of Applied Science Düsseldorf. Muscolino’s work and installations have been exhibited at venues such as the Venice Biennale, Milano Triennale, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, NYC WantedDesign, Providence RISD Museum, Kraftwerk Berlin, Manege Central St.Petersburg, Beijing Biennale of Architecture, Fire Station Gallery and Al-Riwaq Doha Exhibition Space.

Maysaa Almumin is an Architect and independent filmmaker. She graduated from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. She has extensive experience in architectural practice in both London and Kuwait, where she was a partner in Small Architecture Ltd, London; and the Director of THEM Designers in Kuwait. She is a member the Architects Independent design collective. Before joining VCUarts Qatar she worked at the Department of Architecture at Kuwait University. She held a faculty position in the department of Interior Design at VCUarts Qatar, before joining the University’s Art Foundation program, where she teaches Space Research.

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media and beyond who are helping document and/or shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their ‎work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community walks away with a new ‎found curiosity and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first. ‎

Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=-0voh_EioBM&list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX

****** ABOUT AFIKRA ******‎

afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present, and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.

📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters

🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts

⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official

🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

We’re looking back over 25 years of Tasmeem Doha – one of the region’s leading and most influential design initiatives – and chatting with six VCU Qatar faculty members and key players who have helped make it what it is today. In the second episode of the Tasmeem Doha podcast, we examine ‘ephemerality vs permanence’.

Together with assistant professors at VCU Qatar Hadeer Omar and Yasmeen Suleiman, we think about Tasmeem Doha as a ‘maverick’ event that has fundamentally transformed the region’s design scene. They describe how university life has been changed by Tasmeem Doha and what they see to be the temporary vs permanent day-to-day legacies of the conference. And they celebrate the invaluable community, connections and conversations that are born out of Tasmeem Doha in each of its renditions.

Hadeer explains what ‘time-based media’ actually means — pushing us to reflect on perceptions and measurements of time in a fast-moving and transforming city like Doha. We contemplate the symbiotic relationship between permanence and temporality and finally, both Hadeer and Yasmeen share their favorite memories from Tasmeem Doha over the years.

Yasmeen Suleiman is Materials Library Curator and Assistant Professor at VCUarts Qatar. She approaches materials from a multifaceted design perspective, with an unquenchable curiosity and appreciation for how materials transform ideas into tangible reality. Her research interests encompass concepts of preservation, temporality and permanence, trace, value, culture, and contextual design. Previously, she taught Materials and Methods Studio as adjunct faculty in the MFA department. She also worked on the Hamad International Airport Project as part of their Architecture and Interior Design team.

Hadeer Omar is an Egyptian new media artist and Assistant Professor at VCUarts in Qatar. Her work centers on exploring socio-cultural issues through immersive XR media, graphics, photography, A/V performances, 360 storytelling, and video art installations. One of the key focuses of her artistic practice is to utilize technology to examine complex issues of cultural identity, memories, and the self in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her approach to storytelling challenges conventional perceptions of art and design, inviting viewers to examine in new and thought-provoking ways. She was one of the co-chairs of the Tasmeem Doha Art and Design Conference in 2019.

As a dedicated educator, she teaches Time-based media and storytelling. Hadeer empowers her undergraduate/grad. students to utilize XR technologies to create immersive and engaging works. She bridges arts, new media processes, and storytelling to introduce her students to emerging technologies that will shape the future of art and design. Her teaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that students' creative potential can be unlocked by fostering their unique perspectives and approaches to new media art. Her students explore and produce video art installations, 360 short films, photo sequencing, and more.

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media and beyond who are helping document and/or shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their ‎work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community walks away with a new ‎found curiosity and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first. ‎

Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=-0voh_EioBM&list=PLfYG40bwRKl5xaTkBDrUKLCulvoCE8ubX

****** ABOUT AFIKRA ******‎

afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present, and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.

📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters

🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts

⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official

🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Our first in four conversations is with Basma Hamdy, director of Tasmeem, and Peter Martin, one of the conference’s original co-directors. In this episode titled “Cross-cultural Kaleidoscopes” we discuss the birth of Tasmeem, and its evolution over the decades. Together Basma and Peter share the realities of putting together this kind of conference (especially during COVID-19) and how they think Tasmeem has influenced and impacted different audiences — including themselves.

Tasmeem Doha is a biennial international conference that focuses on unique and contemporary themes in art and design. For 2024, the theme of the event is “Under Construction”, which is both a metaphor for creative research as well as a celebration and investigation of transformation. It is also a state that Doha has found itself in for decades: a transformation that has presented an outsized impact on the residents of the city.

Under Construction will also explore the past, present and future of VCUQ’s flagship event Tasmeem. As part of the 25th anniversary of VCU’s campus in Doha, the event will bring together voices from the past, present and future of various disciplines involved in this cycle of rethinking and remaking.

The program will include talks, workshops, public exhibitions and performances.

Basma Hamdy is an assistant professor of graphic design at VCUarts Qatar and director of Tasmeem. She is a research-based designer, author and educator producing work that bridges historical, political and social issues with archival, documentarian, participatory and critical mechanisms. She is an advocate for collaboration and participatory practices, believing that design must promote multiperspectivity. She has collaborated with historians, photographers, designers, activists and cultural organizations to create work that reformulates or challenges established norms or conventions.

Peter Martin was one of the co-directors at the original Tasmeem conference. He holds a BS in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University and an MFA in Graphic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University. His varied experience includes outdoor education, wooden boat building and organizational innovation consulting. He served as Interim Chair of Graphic Design at VCUarts Qatar (2016-2020), where he began teaching in 1999 where he co-led – in collaboration with VCUarts Richmond – the faculty’s development of a wholly new and forward-looking BFA curriculum. Since 2017 he has also been collaborating in developing interdisciplinary learning curricula and cultures with multiple universities of Qatar Foundation’s Education City campus. His design work investigates organizational and community participation platforms for co-creative processes for holistic and integrative transformations.

About The Tasmeem Podcast:

In collaboration with afikra, VCUarts Qatar has produced a series of four 30-minute podcasts available on YouTube featuring interviews with past Tasmeem Doha organizers, chairs and directors. The conversations delve into the origins, the memories and the connections that the conference has to them, the University and Qatar, and how the event evolved to become one of the most prestigious design conferences in the region.

This four-part series will be followed by another podcast series that will focus on specifics of the Tasmeem Doha 2024 conference which will be held in Qatar from March 2-5. The theme for the 2024 conference is Under Construction.