HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani inaugurated the Zwara: focus on the ‘Forever Valentino’ Exhibition at M7

The Zwara: concentrate on the 'Forever Valentino' Exhibition, sponsored by Interspace, was opened by HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums, at M7, the hub of innovation and entrepreneurship in design, fashion, and technology in Qatar.

The thirteen designers enrolled in the third iteration of the Zwara Programme are represented through their collections in the exhibition.

The Zwara Programme is a multidimensional initiative that aims to inspire aspiring creatives to work together and be creative in the context of Qatar's creative environment. The annual initiative invites designers to visit exhibits, archives, and collections before responding to a design brief. It emphasises the value of narrative and innovation in design.

In order to promote cooperation and communication across the design disciplines of fashion and other disciplines, thirteen designers from different design disciplines were chosen this year and placed into six groups.

The Zwara Programme's Qatar-based designers and creatives were given the assignment to research the logical connections between fashion and other design disciplines and explore them in their own work for this edition.

Collaborative teams created ideas that incorporated their various practises while expressing their individual heritage and beliefs. They drew inspiration from the Forever Valentino exhibition that was recently presented at M7 and used the tradition and ideals of Maison Valentino as a starting point.

The chosen participants had the opportunity to travel and take part in an optional three-day programme run by the Valentino team at their Atelier in Rome. Designers engaged with the Valentino team to understand the context of the Valentino brand, and visited the Ateliers, Historical Archive, and were given a brief about Valentino's Journey. They were also invited to attend a series of exclusive exhibition curated tours and workshops conducted by M7.

Participants had the chance to explore the Maison's traditions and norms in their works and draw inspiration from the well respected fashion house.

M7 is dedicated to bridging Qatar's varied design community and giving up-and-coming artists opportunity.

Interspace, a Qatari interior fit-out firm that collaborated with exhibition designers located in Qatar, is sponsoring the show.

According to John Allan, manager of Interspace and Al Manjara, "Interspace are happy to support the third edition of the Zwara Programme.