Announcement of ‘The Middle East Emergent Designer Prize’ by Van Cleef & Arpels in collaboration with Tashkeel and Design Days Dubai

• 2016 edition calls for works inspired by Nature
• Winner will receive a production budget of AED 30,000 and a 5 day trip to the exclusive L’ECOLE Van Cleef & Arpels 
• Winning piece will be unveiled on the opening day of Design Days Dubai 2016
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24 November, 2015 – High Jewelry Maison Van Cleef & Arpels collaborates with Tashkeel and Design Days Dubai in its fourth edition of The Middle East Emergent Designer Prize for 2016. The Prize presents a unique opportunity for emerging designers living in the Middle East to showcase their original works to a global audience.

Van Cleef & Arpels and Tashkeel in partnership with Design Days Dubai continue their objective to support and nurture talent throughout the region calling on designers to share their creative interpretations. This year’s theme: Nature, aims to inspire designers to work with natural materials and/or forms that are indigenous to their immediate surroundings.

Participants are asked to create design objects that serve a specific purpose suitable for contemporary lifestyles, reflecting the influence of the natural world, both in the materials used and in their structure. These objects may be fixed or may, like many natural forms, be adaptable to changing circumstances and conditions to offer an alternative form or function.

The Middle East Emergent Designer Prize: Nature asks applicants to submit a representation of their proposed design project either as sketches, renders or models. Submitted proposals should be of design products that take full advantage of the intrinsic qualities of the materials used and have a clear function.

Cultivating talent across the region, The Middle East Emergent Designer Prize intends to encourage and support designers to realize their ideas. The deadline for submission is December 31 2015, and the winner of the prize will receive a budget of AED 30,000 to produce the work, plus a traveling allowance of AED 5,000 to attend Design Days Dubai 2016 where the final piece will be unveiled on the opening day, March 13 2016.

“Now in its fourth year, The Middle East Emergent Designer Prize demonstrates the incredible design that has emerged in the region since the inception of Design Days Dubai. It is a pleasure to once again host this unique opportunity in partnership with Tashkeel and Van Cleef & Arpels and provide a platform for the original works that come out of this dynamic project,” said Cyril Zammit, Fair Director of Design Days Dubai.

In addition, Van Cleef & Arpels will reward the winner with a 5 day trip to Paris to attend courses at the exclusive L’ECOLE Van Cleef & Arpels, a school created to showcase the mechanisms behind the world of making jewelry and watchmaking. The winner will also be among the privileged few to attend workshops led by the Mains d’OrTM, master craftsmen in High Jewelry creation.

“We look forward to welcoming the fourth winner of this innovative project to L’ECOLE Van Cleef & Arpels – a place where the winner can nurture and hone their skills while discovering the secrets of craftsmanship, mirrored in many of the Maison’s countless and timeless creations,” said Alessandro Maffi, Managing Director Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East & India. “We are thrilled to partner with Tashkeel and Design Days Dubai to support emergent designers in the Middle East.

The winning artwork will be unveiled and showcased at the Van Cleef & Arpels exhibition during Design Days Dubai 2016, the world’s most diverse design fair that showcases local, regional, and international collectible modern and contemporary design pieces.