Disarming Design from Palestine is a thought-provoking platform for design with a collection of products and an expanding educational program. After opening our community center 'Hosh Jalsa' in Birzeit we have developed an engaging program of design-related activities feeding context-specific design discourses, supporting design awareness and skills within the Palestinian community. We want to continue and deepen our program, develop a design hub and expand our design library.

Design Thinking workshop, Birzeit 2018

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Programme

At our community center 'Hosh Jalsa' we are hosting a public program with lectures, readings, and skill-based courses. It's a place that connects designers, artists and craftsmen together and provide a space to showcase their knowlegde and products. We’re holding workshops by international design residents on community design (such as a Palestinian Science Fiction writing workshop and a series on collective memory and storytelling ) and we've set up young-artisans markets . Last summer we organized a summer school with 3 international art schools and the Palestinian Museum. The activities together form the foundation for a regular program of events to contribute to the curriculum of our future Design School .

Lecture series, Hosh Jalsa, 2019

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Library

Our Disarming Design Library was born out of a desire to provide Palestinian designers and creatives with the needed reference materials and space that are lacking in the West Bank, this library will be at the disposal of a wide range of designers and researchers working in Palestine. Libraries in Palestine face tremendous difficulties in acquiring books from abroad due to the policies of the illegal Israeli occupation, as well as limited budgets. Unlike their counterparts across the world, libraries here do not have the privilege of ordering a book and receiving it in the mail.

Doodler workshop, Hosh Jalsa, 2019

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Design hub

With a rising interest in our activities, we need to improve our vocational spaces, invest in equipment and software, and maintain our guesthouse for the international design-residents. This way we want to develop a space where the design community can feel home to experiment, share ideas and enable design as an instrument for empowerment and social change.

Summerschool 'Intimate Terrains', 2019

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International Program

In September 2020, a unique master's course will start at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam focussing on design practices in situations of occupation and political and geographical oppression with a particular focus on Palestine. This program is a first of its kind putting Palestine at its heart and will explore how design can be a vehicle for political resistance and solidarity. How can design practices be utilized to resist oppression and inform strategies of alternative education and practice? The Palestinian participants of this program will lead the future design school.

Design Department Sandberg Instituut

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Context

"Design graduates enter the job market with limited opportunities. There are few design agencies and studios, and designers often end up working for advertising agencies while many don‘t pursue careers in design at all. Those with the means to leave, pursue graduate school or careers in the Gulf countries or outside the region. The creation of a design community that organises events, exhibitions, reviews amongst other things, attempts to challenge the lack of knowledge, interest and credibility around design from the government and the public. It presents designers with possibilities and these spaces enable designers – specifically those who feel marginalised - to feel safe to share who they are. Most importantly, it provides hope and reasons to stay and contribute to the development of design culture(s).” (Danah Abdulla, 2019 ‘Radicalize Me’, Modes of Criticism 4 Radical Pedagogy, p. 10).

Participants and team of Summerschool 'Intimate Terrains'

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Team and background

Disarming Design from Palestine started as a project in 2012, in collaboration with the International Academy of Art Palestine, initiated by Annelys Devet and supported by ICCO. Since 2015, it is registered as a Palestinian non-profit company and as a foundation in Belgium with a warehouse there. The Palestinian non-profit company is located in Birzeit and runs activities, product development and production in Palestine. Producers are directly and fairly paid for their orders. Products are presented and sold locally and internationally through pop-up shops, exhibitions, events, and a webshop. Palestinian designers receive royalties for their sold products. The foundation in Belgium is responsible for the international sales, distribution and representation of the project.

ALIA ALROSAN (1983, PS) is a community builder based in Birzeit with an artistic social practice. Alia is engaged with social empowerment initiatives through sustainable development projects. Art is her method for change. She will run and develop the community center Hosh Jalsa as a safe space to celebrate Palestinian initiatives and creative minds, exploring enriching artistic and social encounters.
QUSAI AL SAIFY (1987, PS) is a product designer and origami specialist based in Ramallah. He participated in the DDFP create-shop in Amman in 2017 and stayed engaged ever since. He developed several products including the unique bags for the Prince Claus Awards 2019 in Amsterdam. Qusai is currently taking part in running Hosh Jalsa community center.
GHADEER DAJANI (1980, PS) is a Jerusalem based interior designer, and the production and design manager of Disarming Design from Palestine after having participated in its workshop in 2015. Ghadeer made two successful and moving designs. She does product development, supervises the workshops and takes care of the entire production process of the objects and has a very broad knowledge of design, material and production possibilities in Palestine. Ghadeer will collaborate on the new design program, develop the collection of products and supervise workshops.
ANNELYS DEVET (1974, NL) is a Belgium-based designer and researcher and co-founded Disarming Design from Palestine in 2012. She has headed the MA in Design ‘Think Tank for Visual Strategies’ at the Sandberg Instituut from 2009 to 2019 and will head the new temporary masters program ‘Disarming Design’ committed to design practices in situations of oppression with a particular focus on Palestine. She has initiated Subjective Editions that map countries from inside out, from a human perspective; including Subjective Atlas of Palestine (2007) and Subjective Atlas of Pakistan (2018). Annelys is a PhD candidate at ARIA, a practice-led doctoral study at Sint Lucas School of Arts and University, Antwerp, with a research focussed on the conditions for design education in situations of oppression.
RAED HAMOURI (1985, PS) is the executive director of Disarming Design and an active community builder. For over 14 years; Raed was engaged in community empowerment initiatives and sustainable development projects through key international and national organizations. He lives and works in Ramallah and is responsible as manager and catalyst for DDFP in Palestine.
KATHRINE NICOLAISEN (1991, DK) is the marketing & digital project manager for DDFP, and during her current residency at Hosh Jasla she created a series of 8 workshops in collaboration with participants focusing on best practices and marketing techniques, enabling Palestinian designers and artists to build, improve and increase their online presence and reach their goals.

Workshop collective memory and storytelling, Hosh Jalsa 2019

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For further information, follow these links:

NARRATIVE REPORT 2018
Disarming Design from Palestine
PALESTINE MONITOR, Patty Diphusa, 27 August 2019
Summer School of Design in Palestine
DEZEEN, Augusta Pownall, 12 July 2019
Disarming Design from Palestine is first design school for the West Bank
DOMUS, Giulia Zappa, 14 June 2019
Design in Palestine: an interview with the Disarming Design collective
MENA CATALYSTS, Leila, 31 January 2019
Disarming Design from Palestine
ONOFFICE, Grant Gibson, 8 December 2017
Grant Gibson reviews the Checkpoint Bag by Disarming Design From Palestine
WORKS THAT WORK, Kurt van Belleghem, December 2017
Reaching beyond borders

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