Design Doha has announced the launch of the Mexico Edition of its international residency program, Crafting Design Futures, as part of the 2026 Year of Culture partnership between Qatar and Mexico. The initiative brings together four designers from Qatar and the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA) region to collaborate with Mexican master artisans. The residency aims to merge inherited craft techniques with contemporary design through research, experimentation, and shared creative processes.
The participating designers will engage directly with traditional Mexican artisans, exploring how ancestral methods can be adapted and transformed within modern design contexts. Techniques featured in this edition include ancestral engraving and the hand-hammered copper work for which Santa Clara del Cobre is renowned. The residency’s collaborative approach seeks to highlight the ongoing evolution of traditional craft through cultural and artistic exchange.
From October 8 to November 1, the works produced during the residency will be exhibited at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City as part of Design Week Mexico’s Visión y Tradición programme. This platform, developed by Design Week Mexico and Mexico Territorio Creativo, fosters connections between contemporary designers and artisan communities across Mexico. It promotes traditional knowledge and encourages new cultural, professional, and creative partnerships.
Fahad Al Obaidly, director of Design Doha, underscored the importance of collaboration in the residency’s success, referencing the program’s inaugural edition with Morocco. He emphasized that the initiative cultivates a global network of designers and artisans who engage in knowledge exchange and inspire innovative design approaches, fulfilling the broader goals of the Years of Culture program.
The four 2026 collaborations involve diverse craft disciplines and geographical locations across Mexico:
- Lebanese multidisciplinary artist Shirine Sbaiti partners with Norberto y Rosi in Uruapan, Michoacán. Sbaiti’s artistic practice, LimbObject (Limbo), focuses on using human limbs as structural and aesthetic elements in design.
- Qatar-based Iranian designer Yasamin Shaikhi teams up with Estudio Guerrero in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Shaikhi’s work centers on material innovation and memory, complementing Estudio Guerrero’s expertise in glazed majolica ceramics combined with ornamental alpaca metalwork.
- Syrian designer Kenan Alkuwatly collaborates with master engraver José Cruz in Xochimilco, Mexico City. Cruz is known for the ancestral Mexican technique of pepita engraving.
- British-Indian architect and creative director Armaan Bansal works alongside Alan Pureco’s family workshop in Santa Clara del Cobre, Michoacán. The workshop represents more than three generations of expertise in hand-hammered copper craftsmanship.
Through these partnerships, the residency aims to foster creative dialogue and highlight the relevance of traditional craft techniques in contemporary design across diverse cultural contexts.