Mariam Nihal

Saudi Gazette

 

Tanween Design boutique recently hosted their first Traffic Pop-Up Shop event at Kayan space in Jeddah.

The art space hosted designers, artists, pop-up stores and even a photo booth for an interactive experience.

Every two months, Tanween features new designers, focusing on a range of subjects including fashion, art, jewelry, photography and many more.



Current list of designers include Annada, Gemini T-Shirts, Dorotea P London, Happy Jee by Joanne Kamel, She by Shereen Begermy, Beyond Creative by N.L.N, Oumnia by Nivine Maktabi, Sk by Shaker Kashgari, Jeddah United Sport Store and N Bags.



Sofana Dahlan, founder of Tashkeil spoke to Saudi Gazette about new developments and current features.

She said the event plays on the stressful implications of a typical traffic scenario and asks people to look for inspiration within the chaos. “It could be a smile, or even the colors around you.” Set up in Kayan space, the Tashkeil team brought in Shaker Kashgari, a young Saudi calligraphy artist. “I am a self-taught artist and it is great to be given this chance to represent my work at Tashkeil.” Kashgari produced live art on canvases and paper in black and red colors with handy sketching tools for the public.



Speaking about Kashgari, she said: “I sit with artists and find ways to make them more successful and financially stronger.”



Dahlan said Tashkeil is the venue for those artists who do not have a place or a chance to display their art. “I will give them a chance. One of the criticisms during Behance was that I bring up dirt from South of Jeddah. It is about helping them. We are a social enterprise.”



So far Tashkeil has had 16,000 visitors in the past five years. “We have done 38 events and have promoted over 160 designers. It has been quite a journey. The idea of creating a platform was a challenge. We had to pay the cost for educating the public.”



Dahlan faced a lot of challenges as she started out. “People wanted to put me in box. But there is no way you can fit me in one.”



“Now the public understands what we are doing. So now we get into the art straight away without having to explain our mission.” She believes people have become more aware of the concept and can differentiate between bazaars and pop-up stores. “For you to create an experience, you have to create an interactive element. We are Arabs. Hospitality is part of who we are.  We introduce it in our own style, which is why any event you go to you will find catering. These are also selected entrepreneurs we want to support. Especially the small to medium size businesses.”



Discussing events and the inspiration surrounding her, Dahlan said art, design, people and even books influence her. “I have learned to work things like a puzzle. I start the edges, which is ‘me’ but the rest is everyone else. It is a collaborative effort.”



The last book she read was ‘Six Thinking Hats is a book’ by Edward de Bono. “It was very interesting as it helped me construct a speech right before a big conference. That mixed with the fashion week I was previously at, helped me shape the talk about shoes and fashion.”



Upcoming events at Tashkeil include the majlis called Six Level of Dialogue in November. “Probably influenced by my six hats,” Dahlan laughed. She said the first speaker would be Ziad Jarrar’s founder of Insanniah and event would be a platform for people to debate and share ideas with each other.