SPECIAL FEATURE

In celebration of the Year of Tolerance in the UAE, HANDS collaborated with the Senses Centre for Special Needs to showcase a special and one-of-a-kind carpet that took the centre-stage at Design Week

One-of-a-kind carpet by HANDS

“To mark the Year of Tolerance in the UAE in our own unique way, we proposed the idea to ‘weave tolerance’ into the social fabric of our society through the creativity of these gifted children. The very nature of threads in various colours and textures mixed together and then being so tightly woven is suggestive of a society without division.” ~ Gavin Lewis, General Manager, Hands Carpets Middle East

Nestled under the larger event - Dubai Design Week, Downtown Design 2019 was filled with manufacturers to designers showcasing innovating and inspiring designs from all across the world. The year was special for Hands for two reasons- an artistic collaboration with a non-profit organisation ‘Senses’ and the opening of their first international boutique in the Dubai Design District that presented its latest collections. Using the leaves and branches of the Ghaf tree to apply the paint instead of a paint brush, the children at Senses had created artwork in July 2019. These artworks were then assimilated by the Hands’ design team and have formed the basis of a one-of-a-kind piece that was completed by end-October, creating a masterpiece more than four months in the making. 31 colours making 54 combinations were used, with at least 25 different hands involved in various parts of the process of creating this hand-tufted carpet, including design, dyeing, weaving, backing and finishing. The tree, its leaves and the black leaves are all made with fine pure silk and the background with fine New Zealand wool. The finished product was on display at Downtown Design.