Lawrie Shabibi has organised Cross Scripts, an exhibition that features creatives from across the Middle East and beyond whose practices dissolve the conventional boundaries between contemporary art, architecture, design, craft, and decorative arts. Open until 31 July 2026, the show explores how objects can transcend conventional classifications, functioning simultaneously as artworks, design pieces, cultural artefacts, and carriers of collective memory. The exhibition considers making as a shared visual language based on material knowledge yet constantly evolving through contemporary interpretation.
The show’s title suggests the crossing of different systems of expression; here, they are united by a common sensitivity to craftsmanship, ornament, geometry, and cultural exchange. Historical techniques coexist with experimental approaches, while regional traditions are reimagined through contemporary design vocabularies. The result is an exhibition that foregrounds process as much as form and prompts visitors to consider how inherited methods continue to shape new artistic narratives.
Geometry is one of the show’s principal threads. French-Iraqi artist Mehdi Moutashar has spent decades developing a visual language inspired by Islamic geometric systems, transforming mathematical structures into minimalist compositions defined by rhythm, balance, and proportion. Similar concerns emerge in Austrian artist Bernhard Buhmann‘s paintings: his layered surfaces investigate perception, colour, and spatial illusion through carefully calibrated abstract forms.
Questions surrounding ornament and abstraction are equally central to the work of Iranian-American artist Kamrooz Aram. His paintings and installations revisit decorative traditions often excluded from the Western modernist canon. By incorporating motifs associated with Islamic art into contemporary abstraction, Aram challenges long-standing distinctions between ornament and fine art: he suggests that decoration itself can become a site of critical inquiry.
Spatial concerns inform Emirati artist Sarah Almehairi‘s work, whose paintings, sculptures, and installations investigate systems, materiality, and abstraction through the repeated use of geometric forms. She develops a “structural language,” in which shapes are broken down, reconstructed, and reconfigured into evolving compositions blurring the boundaries between two- and three-dimensional space. Almehairi’s practice aligns with the exhibition’s interest in process, material experimentation, and the fluid relationship between art, design, and architecture.
The relationship between architecture and abstraction also informs the paintings of Morocco-born Algerian artist Driss Ouadahi based in Germany. Ouadahi draws inspiration from experiences of migration, urban development, and the built environment to construct densely layered compositions that evoke architectural frameworks without depicting specific places. Through intricate linear structures and overlapping planes, his works examine how contemporary cities shape movement, identity, and spatial perception.
Throughout the show, nature appears less as a subject than as a system of symbols filtered through architecture and craft. Pakistani artist Hamra Abbas revisits the centuries-old tradition of pietra dura (the stone inlay technique associated with Mughal monuments) and translates floral ornament into contemporary sculptural compositions. Abbas reactivates historical decoration, demonstrating how traditional craftsmanship can become a vehicle for present-day artistic expression. Palestinian artist Areen Hassan similarly draws upon the geometry and symbolism of Islamic gardens. She employs repetition, symmetry, and organic forms to examine ideas of place, memory, and belonging.
In Iranian-British artist Farhad Ahrarnia‘s work, craftsmanship becomes the conceptual foundation of the work itself. He combines contemporary imagery with hand embroidery and traditional Persian khatam marquetry, so historical techniques engage directly with modern abstraction. The resulting art pieces collapse distinctions between decorative and fine arts, highlighting the continued relevance of artisanal knowledge in contemporary practice.
Design occupies an equally significant place within the exhibition. Emirati designer Omar Al Gurg, represented through his studio MODU Method, approaches furniture as an architectural exercise. He produces objects distinguished by clean geometries, material honesty, and refined craftsmanship. Beirut-based design studio KAMEH, founded by architects Elias and Youmna Anastas, similarly operates at the intersection of architecture, design, and traditional making. The studio collaborates with regional artisans to reinterpret vernacular techniques for contemporary audiences.
The relationship between sculpture and functionality is further explored by Peruvian-British artist Ishmael Randall-Weeks, whose practice draws on influences ranging from Constructivism to Japanese woodworking traditions. His furniture-like sculptures challenge the separation between utility and aesthetic contemplation, proposing objects that invite both interaction and reflection.
Berlin-based artist Timo Nasseri also investigates geometry through material form. His ceramic Teardrop Vessels transform familiar vessel typologies into balanced sculptural objects, in which mathematical precision coexists with subtle irregularities introduced through handcraft. The artworks reflect Nasseri’s exploration of symmetry, cosmology, and the philosophical dimensions of geometric order.
Material heritage informs the work of Lebanese designer Nada Debs, whose furniture combines Middle Eastern craft traditions with Japanese minimalism and contemporary design principles. Through marquetry, woodworking, and meticulous detailing, Debs demonstrates how decorative techniques can evolve without losing their cultural specificity. A similar dialogue between tradition and modernity characterises Bil Arabi, the jewellery brand founded by Lebanese designer Nadine Kanso, whose pieces transform Arabic calligraphy into contemporary wearable forms that celebrate language as visual identity.
The show expands further through a collaboration with Iwan Maktabi, a three-generation gallery specialising in modern design and antique carpets. It presents works by architect and artist Zein Daouk, product designer Carlo Massoud and ceramist Mary-Lynn Massoud, and Rasha Nawam. Their furniture, textiles, ceramics, and collectable design objects reinforce the show’s emphasis on material experimentation, regional craftsmanship, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. These works participate in the exhibition’s broader conversation about making, demonstrating how contemporary collectable design increasingly operates alongside fine art within gallery contexts.
The exhibited artworks reveal a growing shift in contemporary practice, in which artists embrace craft traditions while designers adopt conceptual strategies, and in which material expertise becomes inseparable from cultural storytelling. Ornament is reconsidered as structure, furniture approaches sculpture, and techniques passed down through generations acquire renewed relevance through experimentation.
Rather than asking where art ends and design begins, Cross Scripts suggests that the distinction may no longer be productive. Making itself emerges as the exhibition’s central subject: a process through which histories, materials, and ideas intersect to produce objects that are at once functional, sculptural, and rooted in cultural memory. This way, the show reflects a broader movement within contemporary creative practice that values collaboration, craftsmanship, and interdisciplinary thinking as essential tools for shaping the future of art and design.
To learn more about Cross Scripts, please visit the exhibition’s official web page.
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