Milan Design Week

Presented during Milan Design Week in April 2024, the exhibition brought together the first Madrasat Addeera Editions and the prototypes from the inaugural AlUla Design Residency, featuring Leo Orta, Studio Raw Material, Hall Haus, Leen Ajlan, and Bahraini-Danish. The presentation was conceived as a platform for both the finished works and the research behind them. Scenography by Sabine Marcelis and Paul Cournet / CLOUD. The initiative was led by Nora Aldabal, Executive Director of Arts and Creative Industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla, with Sara Ghani, Curator of Design Space AlUla.

Design Space AlUla presented, for the first time, design initiatives emerging from AlUla, a city shaped by millennia of history and its recent transformation. It launched the first Madrasat Addeera Editions: limited-edition pieces by Saudi and international designers from more than eight countries, made with local artisans and combining heritage crafts with contemporary fabrication and sustainable materials. Alongside them, the first AlUla Design Residencies showcased the research of five young designers who spent two months in AlUla working with local communities and specialists.

Sabine Marcelis and Paul Cournet designed the scenography as a stage for both process and objects, allowing visitors to follow each piece from research and making through to the finished work. The aim was to open lasting pathways between AlUla and the international design community.