Dubai Design District (d3), the Middle East's leading destination dedicated to design, today announced the winners of the d3 Fencing Competition. In January 2019, d3 issued an open call inviting artists to design artwork to decorate the fencing surrounding the district, themed around d3's three core values – Unite, Create and Inspire.
A judging panel comprising members of the d3 senior management team selected four UAE based winners – Ajša Zdravković, a British-Serbian graphic designer, illustrator and copywriter, Ichraq Bouzidi, a design architect, visual artist and illustrator from Morocco, Benjamin Batrak, an architect from the UK, and Nasiim Rezapour, a graphic designer and illustrator.
In addition to the opportunity to display their artworks on two or more zones of fencing, each winner will receive a cash prize.
Khadija Al Bastaki, Executive Director of d3, said: "The d3 Fencing Competition aims to engage the wider creative community beyond the Design Quarter. We are proud to showcase the works of UAE-based artists on the fencing around d3 as part of our objective to highlight local talent."
Ajša's submission is a series of visual patchworks that highlight her observations of her time in Dubai, each artwork telling a story. Her work reflects her belief that it is essential to integrate creation with a sense of unity in the space we live, work, and breathe in and, ultimately, contribute to.
Ichraq's illustrations communicate all the emotions she felt whilst working at d3. The images represent dreams, hopes and creativity within a minimalist poetic current that appeal to the viewer's thinking.
Ben's approach was to make d3 feel like a more inviting space by designing the fencing a way a child would. His artwork incorporates the three core values of 'Unite', which is the coming together of people from different cultures and backgrounds; 'Create', representing the fun work these people produce, and 'Inspire' that sends out a message of hope and integration, showing that no setback can stop individuals from reaching their goals.
For her part, Nasiim's submission plays on the human senses and embodies the belief that to feel is to create, to see is to inspire and to speak is to unite. Her artwork symbolises how a metropolitan city like Dubai unites us all through our words and cultures unite us regardless of how different we are.
The work of the prize-winning artists is currently on display on the fencing surrounding d3.
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