"A large part of the organisation’s work takes place under the auspices of the International Academy of Art Palestine, located in an old renovated house in a suburb of Al Bireh, just outside Ramallah’s eternally busy city centre. Since the label’s conception in 2012, the academy, in coordination with the Sandberg Instituut Amsterdam, has held two workshops, each for a period of two weeks. During each workshop, Palestinian students, artists and designers hold conversations, lectures and field visits alongside artisans, small business owners and international colleagues [Disarming Design]....
...The reciprocal nature of Disarming Design means to not only take inspiration from local craftsmen but to also share with them a new approach to design theory. ‘It’s important, you know, bringing together the society of Palestinian artists and talking about how we come up with ideas, where we get these ideas from and how these ideas and pieces represent us collectively,’ says Sharedi.....
We are not only representing Palestinians,’ says Hamid, ‘we should also talk with each other. I think art and design are very powerful tools that can allow us to have serious discussions within the community about our political, social and cultural realities.’"
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