Design Days Dubai builds bridge between Mideast and China

The fifth edition of the annual Design Days Dubai kicked off on Sunday with the participation of Shanghai Design platform for the first time.

This year's edition of the five-day fair "is putting a special focus on design in the Middle East and architecture and interior design from China, Cyril Zammit, the fair's director, told Xinhua.

He noted that "the fair features for the first time platforms for the Saudi Design Week and Shanghai Design.

"All in all we expect 14,000 visitors this year, buyers, art aficionados and intellectuals whereas most of the visitors are from the Middle East," Zammit said.

Shanshan Qi, who is the founder and principal of Qi Architects from Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, said "as part of the Shanghai Dubai Creative Design Dialogue, our booth hosts works from seven architects and two artists."

In February 2010, Shanghai joined the UNESCO Creative City Network as "City of Design," the year when the business metropolis welcomed the world to the Expo 2010 Shanghai China.

"We are happy to welcome a group of 34 people from Shanghai during the Design Days to strengthen the cultural dialogue between Arab and Chinese designers," said Sunny Cha, the curator of Shanghai Design booth. Endit