- Artist bio
Kuwaiti product designer Kawther Alsaffar attained her BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, and MA in Design Products from the Royal College of Art in London. Her work is multi-disciplinary and uses storytelling and craft to traverse the permeable lines between art and design. She focuses on finding patterns in human intimacy and truth, manifesting this through culturally significant processes and materials. Kawther is the principal designer and owner of Studio Saffar.
- Artist statement
The principal focus of my practice is the facilitation and elevation of local traditional crafts, primarily in the Middle East. In an increasingly globalized and capitalistic world, it is challenging for people to recognize the value and necessity of investing in traditional craftsmanship. By integrating craft with technology, new modern outputs are possible, bringing fresh attention to these crafts and highlighting their significance to local culture.
The craft industry is precariously linked to a dwindling set of skills and mastery. Owing to the homogenization of global production and the devaluation of manual labor, skills are no longer transmitted from one generation to the next, leaving industries dependent on a handful of exceptional masters. The loss of these skills and their significance in preserving our traditions and humanity is another door we must not open to a looming future desolate wasteland.
- Artwork/Product Description
Produced at the Boulos Bzre Foundry in Lebanon, the "Dual Dome" is a sculptural piece, one meter in size, that captures the beauty of traditional sand casting in a singular moment in time. Two distinct metals are poured hot into a hand-packed sand mold. The resulting pattern is an uncontrolled and organic reaction. The outcome is self-explanatory in its inherent beauty and serves as a symbol of this undervalued, transient culture of craft that forms the foundation of culture and civilization.
