We were delighted to host Imane Assaf and Don Wright of Ahla Fawda, Beirut, and Lebanese American University design student, Sandra Bou Ghanem, in collaboration with V&A Dundee in January 2023.
Ahla Fawda’s founder Imane Assaf and Scottish upcycling artist, Don Wright, shared how they use plastic waste to support Beirut’s communities through Lebanon’s crises and thrived on the opportunity to learned from designers from across Dundee and Scotland.
V&A Dundee hosted a free, drop-in public talk with Imane, Don and Sandra on Wednesday 18th January 2023. This was delivered as part of Plastic: Remaking Our World’s Plastic Lab’s series of events.
Find out more about this talk and Q&A at V&A Dundee here
On Thursday 19th January, we hosted a free Meet the Maker event at Our Street Studio on Union Street, with Imane, Don and Sandra where they shared how they support Beirut’s communities through creativity, gave live hands-on demo’s and led an informal workshop.
Founded in Beirut, City of Literature, Lebanon in 2014, Ahla Fawda is an NGO which responds to the urgent humanitarian needs of its community.
Lebanon is grappling with economic and financial crises, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequences of the 2020 Beirut Port explosion. As a result, many people living in Beirut cannot afford to meet their basic needs.
In the face of this, Ahla Fawda works to support their community and in 2021 they designed a plastic exchange initiative which provides people with food and other basic supplies in exchange for household plastic waste. This plastic is then sold to recycling companies, used to make new products and in creative design workshops, outreach activities and projects with local schools.
By reframing plastic waste as a valuable untapped resource, Ahla Fawda is supporting communities in need, changing perspectives on what is considered rubbish and creating circular economies.
If you would like to make a donation to Ahla Fawda, please click here
Sandra Bou Ghanem who is working in partnership with Ahla Fawda, is a Lebanese American University fashion design student designing a new fashion system, where garments are studied from an anthropologist point of view and treated from a raw material perspective.
This fashion system is based on design techniques for recycling and upcycling waste materials which are an essential component of responsive design methodologies for the fashion industry.
“IMPOSTER”
A post-individualistic vision of fashion
With a focus on upcycling and recycling waste materials, Sandra has laser cut previously owned CDs and transformed them into these statement sequins.
Her raincoat is a commentary on the process of dry cleaning; looking at how we treat our clothes and take advantage of our environment. By merging the dry cleaning plastic bag with a deconstructed and upcycled shirt, Sandra has morphed these garments to produce these raincoats and provide a new way to protect ourselves.
