In her twelve years as creative director, Noura has honed her love for research and worked on cultivating various contacts and connections in both the art and design world. Her curatorial briefs led to her team being chosen to represent Saudi Arabia at the first London Design Biennale and Design Days Dubai. She had furthermore worked on campaigns and activations with major companies, including Harvey Nichols, PEPSICO, Mercedes Benz, Van Cleef &Arpels, Google, Snohetta, Zaha Hadid Architects to name just a few.

Basma Bouzo

As an interdisciplinary creative rooted in scientific research, Basma has cultivated a distinct passion for championing cultural narratives. This infatuation for storytelling led her to launch Saudi Arabia’s first English  art and culture magazine – Oasis, alongside her sister Noura. Basma co-founded Saudi Arabia’s first-ever Saudi Design Week and is the co-founder and CEO of Saudi Design Festival. Basma has also represented Saudi Arabia globally, being the co-curator and designer of the Saudi Pavilion in the inaugural edition of London Design Biennale. 

Other representations include the Saudi Pavilion during Abwab at Dubai Design Week. Basma is also passionate about exploring homegrown and indigenous materials and revealing their full potential in the face of modernity. She has gone on to co-found and lead &bouqu an experience-led cultural and creative consultancy that harnesses the power of storytelling to build strategies and execute high-impact projects at the intersection of creativity, arts, culture, design, and innovation.

Assistant curators

Cyril Zammit

Cyril has established himself as an independent design advisor and consultant, having worked with the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and, more recently, the Uzbekistan Art & Culture Foundation. Cyril created Design Days Dubai and Dubai Design Week.

Joharah Lou Pabalate

Joharah is a strategist specializing in narrative building and program ideation and development. She is a strategy director at &bouqu, an experience-led creative and cultural consultancy firm, and Saudi Design Festival. Jou has worked on complex national branding and communication pilot initiatives and projects focusing on culture, tourism, entertainment, design, and the arts.