Starch “Blueprint Beirut” wins big in London Best Curation Award at Utopia 2016

Starch “Blueprint Beirut” wins big in London

Best Curation Award at Utopia 2016

Starch has won the best Curation Award for its exhibition “Blueprint Beirut” in London, at Fashion Utopia 2016, at the British International Fashion Showcase, in association with London Fashion week.

“Blueprint Beirut”, organized by the Arab British Centre and Starch Foundation, and supported by the British Council, showcased the best of Lebanese design.

Eight designers from the Starch Foundation, Timi Hayek, Rayya Morcos, Bashar Assaf, Nour Najem, Margherita Abi-Hanna, Joe Arida, Mira Hayek and Sevag Dilsizian presented each a piece recreating their personal reading of Beirut. The pieces were presented within Elie Metni’s (Starch architect) installation which is an interpretation of a traditional Lebanese home. View the gallery for photos of the event and of the designed pieces.

“Blueprint Beirut”

Sponsored by Bonaveri, the award was presented to Tala Hajjar by Bonaveri CEO Andrea Bonaveri himself. Also, Lebanon’s Starch Designer Timi Hayek came highly commended for Best Designer.

  • Tala Hajjar and Andrea Bonaveri
  • Timi Hayek, “Three-Arch House”

The Arab British Centre’s Executive Director Nadia El- Sebai said: “We initiated the partnership with Starch Foundation because we wanted to show audiences in the UK the strength and diversity of the creative and cultural industries in the Arab World. IFS 2016 showcased the work of 80 designers from 24 countries. There were three awards and two of them went to the Middle East. This is very promising for the region and we couldn’t be happier”.

From left to right: Bashar Assaf “Discord”, Mira Hayek ”Bluebell”, Rayya Morcos ”Nawaret”, ”Cultural Jheiz” Nour Najem .

Utopia 2016 is an event celebrating the 500th anniversary of the publication of Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) which presented an imaginative and playful vision of the world as it could be at a time of great change, suggesting that many other visions are possible for the way we live, make, work, play and dream. Through a series of exhibitions, events, new commissions, talks and workshops, Utopia 2016 explored the relevance of Utopia to 21st-Century cultural, ecological, and social challenges and opportunities.

  • “Organigram”, Margherita Abi-Hanna
  • “Origins”, Sevag Dilsizian

Photos: alexmaguirepix - Piers Allardyce (British Fashion Council)