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A Taste of Tasmeem, of a radical future

Tasmeem Doha 2022: Radical Futures is the latest edition of Virginia New Potentials in Arabic Typography
Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar’s (VCUarts
Qatar) popular art and design conference. It will take place from In person workshop by Cairo-based independent
March 7-10, 2022. designer and researcher Sarah Shebl
This year’s conference offers an inclusive and multi-faceted view of Typography is the art of manipulating the visual form of
the future, one that not only discusses current advancements, but language to enrich and control its meaning. It is an essential
speculates on future threats, probabilities, and changes whether area of skill and knowledge for designers. Typography
environmental, geographical, cultural, or social. predates modern graphic design by around 500 years.
It is rich in rules, conventions, and esoteric terminology;
Select events will be streamed to the public from VCUarts Qatar, however, it remains an exciting space for invention and
providing attendees a chance to engage with international expression.
designers, artists, academics, students, and industry professionals.
Registration is free, and further information on the online events and In this beginner-level workshop, we will study the
how to register, is available at: https://radicalfutures.qatar.vcu.edu characteristics of Arabic letterforms. We will consider the
pragmatic concerns involved in selecting and combining
The latest conference includes lectures, masterclasses and Arabic, dive into Arabic script’s rich historical, cultural, and
workshops, with themes as varied as Inclusion, Post colonialism, aesthetic histories and the contemporary Arabic type, and
Indigenous Knowledge, Language, Geology, Energy Systems, explore the type’s expressive, meaning-making potential. Image Courtesy: Hala Abdelnabi
Environment, Sustainability, Smart Materials, Circular Economies,
Curatorial Activism, Biotechnology, Augmented Realities - practically
every facet of our daily lives.
Tasmeem Doha is an international, biennial art and design
conference hosted and organized by VCUarts Qatar since
2004. Each edition of Tasmeem Doha highlights a unique and
contemporary theme within art and design, exploring novel
concepts, methods, and applications, and engaging in critical
discussions.
Previous conferences attracted regional and international media,
giving presenters such as Sir David Adjaye Obe, Julia Leeb, Rem
Koolhaas, and Marco Williams, and event partners such as the
German Embassy in Doha, Goethe-Institut, Qatar Foundation, Qatar
Museums, Mathaf, and Doha Film Institute a unique platform to
highlight issues that matter to the global public.

Here’s a sneak peek of the exciting line-up coming up in March:
Julia Watson
Designer, activist, academic and author,
Julia is a leading expert on indigenous
technologies, as seen in her book Lo-TEK,
Design by Radical Indigenism, published
by Taschen. She teaches at Harvard and
Columbia while also leading an experiential,
landscape, and urban design studio:
Julia Watson with Marie Salembier. After
graduating from Harvard with the highest
award for her work on conservation and
spiritual landscapes, she has been widely
published and co-authored the Spiritual
Guide to Bali’s UNESCO World Heritage with Image Courtesy: Julia Watson
Dr. J. Stephen Lansing. Julia approaches
design as a “rewilding,” with a portfolio of projects including the
Reef Resilience Initiative with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation,
private estates with the owners of PACE Galleries, and the artist
Rashid Johnson. She is a fellow of Summit REALITY & Pop!tech,
received a Christensen Fund for her work in conserving Bali’s first
UNESCO World Heritage site, and was a Disruptive By Design
Ambassador for WIRED. Lo-TEK has featured in The New York
Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post and Fast Company. Born
in Australia, she regularly travels to sacred sites and indigenous
cultures across the globe.

Parsons & Charlesworth
Parsons & Charlesworth is an art and
design studio that develops tangible
worlds as discursive tools for critically
appraising urgent issues. Co-founded by
Jessica Charlesworth and Tim Parsons,
the studio’s investigative, research-driven,
speculative approach uses installation,
sculpture, designed objects, writing,
photography and digital media to explore
key social, ecological and technological
challenges of our time, including climate Image Courtesy:
change, the future of work, and the ethics Tim Parsons and Jessica Charlesworth
of technology.
Parsons & Charlesworth have exhibited in galleries, museums,
institutions, and festivals around the world including: 17th
International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia,
Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museu
de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia (MAAT Lisbon), Science Gallery
Dublin, Istanbul Design Biennial, the Museum of Contemporary Art
(Chicago) and the Chicago Cultural Center.
Recent honours, grants and awards for their work include a 2021
grant from The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the
Fine Arts, a 2020 Mitchell Enhancement Award from The School of
the Art Institute of Chicago, and a 2019 Canada Council for the Arts
Grant. Their work is featured in various private collections and in the
permanent collection at the MAKVienna and DePaul Art Museum.
Both Jessica and Tim teach at The School of the Art Institute of
Chicago.