Qatari firms make waves in handmade exhibition

Three up and coming Qatari companies made waves at the two-day QatArt Regional Handmade Exhibition, organised by QatArt Handmade Community in Doha’s West Bay recently.

The owners of three Qatari companies were among the 65 artists, designers, and crafters who participated in what QatArt Handmade Community board member Swapna Namboodiri described as a “one-of-its-kind” event in Doha.Shaika al-Kulaifi, sales manager for Tean, a company that produces handmade clay decorative items and kitchenware, said their products are inspired by Qatari traditions, infused with modern ideas.Tean, which means clay in Arabic, is an all-woman company formed by al-Kulaifi, together with fellow artists Maryeh Anwari, the company’s operation manager, and Al-Jazi al-Maadeed. Another participating Qatari company, Vectorize, started as a “social enterprise” in 2013. Co-founder and CEO Abir Bouguerra explained that as a social enterprise, the company offered its services for free.But this year, Bouguerra and co-founder and COO Farid Mahfouz registered Vectorize as a full business and participated in Global Entrepreneurship Week Qatar, organised recently by Qatar Development Bank. The company specialises in 3D printing prototypes in the fields of education, architecture, health, art design, engineering, entertainment, construction and fashion.“We define our business as a creative space where people turn their imagination into reality using 3D technology and virtual reality. Usually, a customer comes to us with an idea and they sit down with a designer who will develop the idea before it is printed in 3D,” she said. Faissal al-Haithami is the CEO of Mahalat, an e-commerce site created to help home-based businesses and local companies sell their products online.He said the site offers full services, including placement of orders and delivery of the product. It also provides a dedicated page for all of the client’s products, company logo, and a ‘dashboard’, which allows the client to manage the business online.“We are encouraging home-based businesses to join us and try our platform, which we are offering for free. There are no monthly or registration costs. But after two months, we will only take 5% for each sale they make,” al-Haithami said.Namboodiri added, “Aside from Doha-based QatArt members, what makes this event very special is the participation of seven vendors from Dubai, Egypt, the Philippines and Colombia, which indicates the growing awareness of handmade art in the country and the region.”The exhibition was also highlighted by workshops in soap making, origami, paper quilling, and ceramic and glass painting.