We were invited by The Conran Shop, the iconic British design retailer founded by Sir Terence Conran and known for championing quality design for the home, to give a talk at their Kuwait location. The conversation centred on what it means to take a design practice rooted in Beirut and Arab craft traditions to a global audience, and the responsibility that comes with representing a culture through the objects you make. We spoke about how the line between cultural celebration and cultural commodification is something every designer working with traditional craft has to think about carefully.

We presented a sensory installation at Osaka Expo 2025, the world's largest international exposition bringing together nations and cultures in Japan, in collaboration with Uzbek craftspeople whose making traditions we had first encountered at the Design Doha Biennial. The installation brought together Japanese minimalism and Uzbek craft into a space designed for pause, reflection, and human connection. It was built around the idea that design can create moments of stillness within even the most populated and spectacular of international events.

In collaboration with Em Sherif, the celebrated Lebanese restaurant group known for reviving traditional Levantine cuisine with theatrical presentation, we transformed the maamoul into a multi-sensory design experience under the name OKASHI. The maamoul, a traditional Arab pastry central to celebrations across the Levant, became the starting point for a limited-edition collection that applied our craft vocabulary to objects connected to food, ritual, and gathering. It was a meeting between two Lebanese makers, each rooted in the sensory traditions of the same culture but working in very different materials.