The residency gave four designers from Qatar and the wider MENASA region a first-hand experience of learning from Mexican master artisans in their own workshops. Each pair developed the work together, and initial ideas changed through the process of making as the designers encountered techniques, materials and knowledge built through years, and in some cases generations, of practice.
Kenan Alkuwatly worked with master engraver José Cruz in glass. Shirine Sbaiti joined Norberto y Rosi in clay. Yasamin Shaikhi partnered with Estudio Guerrero in ceramics and alpaca metal. Armaan Bansal worked with Alan Pureco's family workshop in hand-hammered copper.
The resulting objects reflect not only the designers' original concepts, but the creative contribution of the artisans and the conversations between them. The works are presented within Design Week Mexico's Visión y Tradición programme at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, from 8 October to 1 November 2026.
