As part of its responsibility towards the creative sector and its role as an enabler for it in the emirate, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority has supported a group of creative entrepreneurs to participate in The Dubai Design Week Marketplace, a new initiative and a key component of Dubai Design Week 2020, being held from 9 to 14 November under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture, in Dubai Design District (d3).

The support that Dubai Culture provided in the form of grants to a group of talented creatives and small companies working in the creative field aims to facilitate their participation in Dubai Design Week Marketplace. This initiative is one of the solutions that the Authority has developed in response to the outcome of the Dubai Ideathon, which it had launched in cooperation with Art Dubai Group in April 2020 to monitor ideas and proposals that would contribute to facing the challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis to the creative and cultural societies in Dubai.

The Dubai Design Week Marketplace is a new initiative that comes as part of the sixth edition of Dubai Design Week, the largest creative festival in the Middle East. The Marketplace will be held in Dubai Design District on 13 and 14 November and will witness the participation of more than 70 artisans, creatives, entrepreneurs and small businesses that will present a selection of their products. Keen shoppers can find original fashion, jewellery, homeware, beauty, lifestyle and food.

Dubai Culture is the strategic partner of Dubai Design Week and is also a main supporter of Downtown Design 2020, one of the week’s activities that will be presented in a hybrid format this year, allowing the design community to meet and interact across physical and digital platforms. The Authority’s support for this event is consistent with one of the main pillars of its updated strategic roadmap, which is to support and preserve the creative talents of Emiratis and residents, as well as to attract creative people across various fields of arts and culture from around the world to live and work in Dubai, providing them with a platform for growth and prosperity, and thus, enhancing the emirate’s position as a global centre for art and culture, an incubator for creativity, and a thriving hub for talent.