Nuqat Design Conference, Dubai

I know I am very late, a quite bit of time has passed, but too much work was on…..but I still want to share my really amazing experience there.

First of all Dubai, it was the first time and the impressions are strong.

Imperial, contemporary, surreal, theatrical…………………..dusty, lonely, sad………….exaggerated, imposing, expensive……………………..

The conference I attended was extremely interesting, and I got a completely new outlook on the Emirates and on the Middle East. Nothing was as I had expected…..

The flights were tiring, I have no idea how come the arrivals and departures at Dubai Airport are mostly at night. I arrived at three in the morning and left at two, so the stay of three nights and conferences all day were a real challenge.

but I made it followed practically all the presentations on the lost city of Arabesque and this thanks to the quality and rythm of the speakers and the treated themes. There was practically no boring presentation and all but one in English.

I thank Azza Fahmy and her Nubre project, without her I probably would not have known about the organization and history of Nuqat and would have missed the acquaintance with many wonderful people and a completely new outlook on many questions regarding this region.

There were many things that touched me because I could feel questions and answers very near. I discovered that questions vehemently discussed in Europe as loss of identity, preservation against the dangers of the global village and similar were discussed equally here.

Sentences like: the moment we think we have to defend our culture against change and outside danger this culture is already dead.
” we don’t have to be afraid to loose our culture, we are our heritage, our present and our future – if we live our life with heart and passion.”
were really good to hear

I learned about the importance of calligraphy, about the feeling you have if you live in a country torn apart by civil war, about what it can mean to live in a city threatened by bombs in any moment, I learned about what can be behind the veil Muslem women…….