As part of Dubai Design Week’s focus on supporting the Lebanese creative community this year, The Beirut Concept Store is a celebration of Lebanese design that showcased emerging and established design talent based in Lebanon, within the Downtown Design fair.

Situated with Downtown Design’s dedicated showcase for limited-edition design, Downtown Editions, and curated by Mariana Wehbe, The Beirut Concept Store was a collective design effort to bring the spirit of the Lebanese design scene to the centre stage, providing visibility and commercial opportunity, set within a scenography imagined and executed by the multi-talented designer and artist Rumi Dalle.

Making their official debut at the store, the newly established product design incubator, Exil Collective, is bringing 20+ emerging and established product designers. Adopting a synergistic approach, The Beirut Concept Store carried a diverse collection of pieces, ranging from ceramics and furniture to product and collectible design, to books and small gift items.

Alongside the emerging creatives, the long roster of talent included established names such as Post Industrial Crafts and Studio Manda. The store incorporated works of master ceramists such as Hala Matta, Nathalie Khayyat, Souraya Haddad and Lina Shamma, all credited with the maturity of the Lebanese ceramics scene.

Visitors also explored younger design brands with budding potentials, such as Atelier Nadeen and find books that encompass the essence of the Lebanese charm, gift items and Beirut memorabilia from ‘Beirut Je T’aime’, ‘The Homes of Beirut’ and ‘Cut Paste Build’.

Downtown Design was held 8-12 November 2021 at its purpose-built Waterfront terrace venue in Dubai Design District (d3).