Unearthing Inspiration | Maysaa Almumin x Simone Muscolino | 25 Years of VCUart Qatar

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.

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