On the beach at Emirates Palace

Sandra Lane

• Last Updated: November 28. 2009 5:01PM UAE / November 28. 2009 1:01PM GMT

Another day, another design show. With events in Singapore, Vienna and Tokyo among others in the two months since the London Design Festival – and Design Miami under way this week – regulars on the global circuit could be forgiven for sighing wearily at the thought of one more new date on the design calendar, and choosing simply to ignore it. Not just because of the air miles and exhaustion but because, in their (perfectly understandable) desire to gain global recognition, some of those shows blur into a same-sameness, with exhibitors producing “global bland” in their efforts to please everyone, “local” to the point of pastiche in their desire to be different, or gratuitously wannabe in their wish to look as cool as whichever school of design is deemed to be the flavour of the season.

However, if last week’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Art design show was an indication of things to come, it may be worth paying attention. Not because it might grow into a vast event (let’s hope not; its modest scale was a definite plus). Nor necessarily for the emergence of a major “Arab” design movement (indeed, the question of “national identity” in design sparked much lively debate – with most of the designers coming down on the side of it being a false premise). No, its real value was what it did to show the role it could play as a catalyst for the still-nascent design community here.

Much of that role is educational – for the public as well as designers and would-be designers. And, as Alexander von Vegesack, the director of Vitra Design Museum, which organised a series of Design Workshops during the show, pointed out, that is crucial.

Design is not an end in itself; it cannot exist in a vacuum but needs an educated audience (that understands what he calls “a culture of objects”) in order to create a market for products that are not only useful but beautiful.

“Design exhibitions therefore perform an important service. People need to be informed in order to judge the value of a product – and they need to be able to compare things in order to develop taste and design literacy. If you are exposed only to red velvet, you will end up with red velvet.”

As this show demonstrated, that opportunity to compare was just as valuable for the participating designers. “I often feel that I am working in my own little bubble in Marrakech,” said the Moroccan designer Younes Duret, “and it is amazing to come here and meet others in a similar situation.”

“This is so special,” chimes in the Dubai-based artist and designer Reem al Ghaith. “On the first day here Younes and I had decided that we would spend time in each other’s studios and collaborate on a project for next year.”

And what of the show itself?

Held in a specially designed and built pavilion on Emirates Palace beach, it was an intelligently put together mix: the star quality came from Vitra Design Museum’s collaboration, bringing three prominent international designers – Sevil Peach, Maarten Baas and Max Lamb – to lead workshops (free of charge and open to the public on application). Lamb and two members of Baas’s Netherlands-based studio also provided Design Performances, creating pieces live, in front of the public. Inside the Design Studio pavilion, which was set up by the Dubai consultancy Pink Tank (in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Art’s overall organiser, TDIC), five designers from the region worked in an open studio environment, enabling visitors to see works in progress and gain a better understanding of design processes. Those designers ranged from the young and emerging: Reem al Ghaith, Younes Duret and the Saudi designer Ahmad Angawi, who made his journey by road from his Saudi home to Abu Dhabi part of the process of the studio designs. From the other end of the scale came Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri, the founders of Bokja, the Beirut-based furniture maker that is rapidly gaining an international following, and Nedda El-Asmar, a Belgian designer of Palestinian descent, who is well-established in Europe, designing for large-scale manufacturers as well as artisanal producers.

Audio slideshow: Maarten Baas's Card and Tape workshop

The atmosphere on the beach was relaxed yet humming with creative energy – all about hands-on work in progress and thus a marked contrast to the very fine art in the indoor galleries.

While some visitors commented that the contrast seemed like a mismatch (not least because there were no high-value collectable design pieces on offer) and served to underline the often-asked question: “Why include design in an art show?” The answer still must be Why not?

To begin with, Design Miami, which is held alongside Art Basel Miami Beach, has proved to be a great success. But, perhaps more importantly, there is a symbiotic relationship between the two. Max Lamb – a designer whose work many describe as being as much art as design – insists that the distinction is largely false. “It is not either, or; it’s a continuum,” he says. “I consider myself to be a designer.” His unspoken message was clearly, “and if others want to think of my work as art, so be it.”

That’s a thought echoed by Reem al Ghaith, who trained as a designer but has become best-known as an artist. “I don’t believe in categorising things so much. For me it’s all about the hands – thinking through the design then actually doing the work, not simply assigning it to someone else.” In fact, the prototype tables and the stools covered with digitally printed canvas that al Ghaith created for the event were her first foray into furniture design. “This event has led me in a new direction,” she enthused.

Among the Design Workshop participants there was little question just how much that hands-on involvement means. Mouza al Mazroui who, with her friend Hyam al Mureikhy, both from Abu Dhabi, joined Sevil Peach’s workshop (based on the theme Volume and Repetition, it produced semi-transparent “walls” using thread and wooden frames). “It was amazing being so much a part of the process. I had no idea that we would be doing so much detailed work by hand. Although we worked non-stop from 10.30 until 5.30 I didn’t notice the time passing; we just felt exhausted at the end of it. But very happy, too, as we learnt so much.”

For those in Maarten Baas’s Sunday workshop there was an unexpected result: having created objects from the deliberately basic materials of cardboard and tape, they found themselves in an impromptu public performance of a new version of Baas’s Real Time series.

And therein lies the crux of the matter: this show was an opportunity – rare in these parts – for its participants to explore the possible, and for its visitors to deepen their understanding of the design process, as well as the difference between design and craft. (As Baas pointed out, there is a vast gulf between the good-natured near-chaos of the “workshop” version of Real Time and the seamless, polished versions that he films.

As is normal for a first-time event, there is much that can be done to develop and improve it – and thus increase its value and impact – but kudos must go to those involved in getting it off the ground. It was a fine example of how to walk before you try to run – and proof that biggest is not always best. Let us hope that this is the first of many “Abu Dhabi Art Designs” and not simply an inspiring one-off.