Introducing FAME Collective: Female Artists of the Middle East

The First Collective Platform for Art and Design Created by Women of MENA
FAME Collective is the first multidisciplinary platform for art and design showcasing the talent and diversity of the modern MENA woman. The exceptional female-founded retail platform and exhibition portal is a community that celebrates arts by women and elevates the eternal creativity of the feminine force in our world. FAME stands for F-emale A-rtists of the M-iddle E-ast. Bridging the fields of fine art, interior design, jewelry and unique accessories, FAME proposes a luxury offering with as much style as it has meaning. The social enterprise donates to women’s charities through its sales, daring to imagine a full-cycle business model that gives back using the regenerative energy that expansive female collaboration naturally creates. FAME Collective uses the uplifting power of beauty and luxury to gather a broad community that welcomes all women from across the diverse nations and varied backgrounds found throughout the wider MENA region. Radiating out from its effortlessly elegant website, this highly curated luxury space also steps into the physical world via exhibitions and pop-up events that eclectically span the platform’s range, featuring contemporary art and collectible design alongside desirable fine jewelry and striking art wear. FAME is driven by sharing the unique stories that unfold from each object’s application of artisanal craft to express culture and feeling.
The site boasts some of the Middle East’s most impressive names in art and design – including cult jewelers Bil Arabi, L’atelier Nawbar and Noora Shawqi, renowned furniture designer Nada Debs, admired painters Helen Zughaib and Mona Trad Dabaji, adored photographer Rania Matar, and statement accessories from Marzook, L’Afshar, and Vanina. It also shares female designer collaborations from iconic carpet master Iwan Maktabi. Besides featuring established creatives, FAME presents anticipated emerging artists and exciting new names from the worlds of jewelry, art, and design, holding the belief in bold new combinations close to heart as it brilliantly showcases the immense variety of talent found among the women of MENA.
The sensational new platform was founded by mother-daughter duo Christiana Jabara and Lara Jabara who each bring their unique creative expertise to the venture. Christiana mastered in Contemporary Art at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, while Lara graduated in Creative Direction for Fashion from University of the Arts, London. Speaking recently about the launch, Christiana shared her vision for using art and style to “break down boundaries and build an innovative space for celebrating all Middle Eastern women together.” Lara emphasizes that “FAME is a community created by women for women.”
Look out for upcoming events later this year and in the meantime visit the site to experience an inspiring new way of sharing the vivid imaginations of Middle Eastern women.
www.famecollective.com
Q&A 1.
Why we launched FAME and our thinking behind the site (Christiana)
Female artists are hugely under-represented in the world at large and FAME is part of the global movement to redress the balance of history. Middle Eastern women in particular have
often been excluded from the international stage, so we want to showcase just how talented and hard working Middle Eastern women are.
We support different types of creativity across art and design, and while we don’t believe that art and luxury products are the same, we do feel they reflect well on each other especially in the realm of storytelling and the power that both fine art and exceptional objects have to communicate in a very direct way.
Our curation brings multiple artistic methods and creative techniques together to share the experiences and visions of women across MENA who are so varied but also have much in common. Our aim is to be of benefit both to the community and the economy, and we believe the two are interrelated especially when it comes to empowering women financially.
Our region has been subject to so much upheaval which means many women have had to overcome tremendous odds to create and produce their work. In doing this they pave the way for the rest of us as they have been able to reinvent themselves and their stories through the process of creative transformation. This process generates new narratives for audiences and collectors globally who encounter evolving identities and ideas about the Middle Eastern woman through the pieces we are sharing.
For us it is important that our platform is well curated to give the site the feel of a special place in which the creations of designers we admire and respect can be framed in the best possible way. An elevated space can really celebrate the talent and effort behind each object. We aim to host MENA designers in a style that can speak to a global audience as well as women within our own region, and we ship internationally, so everything is smoothly taken care of.
How we curate the designers we present through FAME (Lara)
We choose designers whose work reflects continuing cultural practices and experiences in a contemporary way. Authentic techniques that honor local materials and histories are important to us, but so is supporting the evolution of women’s identities as they change and update, and we believe both things can go hand in hand. Every craft practice carries local heritage with it, and its continuation relies on its ongoing updating and adaptation – which is often done very imaginatively by female artisans as they innovate traditional modes in order to best fit their personal expression as it stands today.
The highest quality in production is of course a top concern in how we select brands but more than this we look for designers who have a clear defining aesthetic of their own and a strong stylistic personality. We love artistic work in which the designer’s own story – her story as a creative and as a woman – is expressed and translated into material and visual form.
When we’re talking about design this includes collectible pieces, furniture, jewelry and our “Art Wear” category of unique pieces in the form of high end accessories. We want to elevate these wearable artistic objects because they often contain cultural symbolism through their artisanal techniques and expressive aesthetics.
We love how women express themselves through what they wear and enjoy celebrating other women through the personally curated objects they choose to carry and accessorize with. Each time these objects are worn it is like a collaboration between the unique creative DNA of the maker and the personal expression of the wearer. The same can be said of the pieces a woman chooses for her home.
Q&A 2.
What gave you the idea to launch FAME and how did it come about?
At this point we all know that female artists are not equally represented on the global stage, and we wanted to take part in the redressal of balance that is now thankfully starting to happen around the world, with our contribution coming from a Middle Eastern focus. Women from MENA have been especially left out of the way history and art history have been written, and we believe it’s important to even things out – so that’s where the idea started. Once we had the spark of inspiration we put our heads together discussing possibilities and it naturally took shape expanding from our personal passions and beliefs.
What is your mission behind FAME?
Our aim is to benefit community and economy in tandem. We want to support the changes in society while also having fun and celebrating beauty. FAME empowers women financially, both in terms of enabling collectors to buy from female artists and designers, and by donating to charities that help the women in our region who most need support. MENA has been through so many challenges and women from all walks of life have been deeply affected by this, including those female makers who produce artistic work. Creativity has a tremendous transformative power and it is our privilege to support those women with the imagination and perseverance to generate creative output against difficult odds. We love how these women use visual materials to express their own experiences and the stories of their cultures in powerful and playful ways. We think it’s important to share different stories from the Middle East and find that art and design is a really beautiful way of doing that.
How do you find working in such close quarters as a mother and daughter duo?
We are lucky in that we complement one another as we’re quite different yet we both have this mix of being simultaneously classic and wanting to shake things up – but in different ways from each other. We also each have our own individual area of focus because of our educational backgrounds and specific interests. Lara, with her background in fashion and photography, curates the jewelry and art wear, plus oversees the artistic direction of FAME’s overall digital presence. Christiana, with her experience in events, interior design and contemporary art, curates the fine art and collectible design categories, and leads from her life-long interest in unraveling the stories to be found within the arts.
How does the charity aspect of sales donations work?
As a social enterprise, giving is integral to the structure of what we do. When we create events and pop-ups, as well as through online sales, part of the proceeds are given to the charities we support. We will be sharing details of our first long-term charity partner soon, a very inspiring organization with whom we share the priority of empowering women economically and supporting female entrepreneurs so they can go on to support themselves, their families and their communities.
Which names currently enlisted are you most excited about and why?
We are truly excited by the range and scope of talent that is showcased on our platform, spanning across painting, photography, collectable design, furniture, fine jewelry, and what we call “art wear”, which represents high end wearable pieces. Besides the fact that we are honored to present the work of some already celebrated artists and designers with established reputations, we are also thrilled to be able to introduce emerging names and support them early on in their careers. For us it’s about curating a mix across mediums, styles and cultural backgrounds. We deeply value the personal stories of every maker and especially love the way that creative women innovate to tell new stories while building on historical craft traditions in ways that pay respect to their cultures of origin