Irthi Contemporary Craftsats Council, the Sharjah-based organization which focuses on the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage and local craftsmanship in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), presents the exhibition ‘Echoes of Alchemy’, curated by Mr. Lawrence: Annalisa Rosso + Francesco Mainardi. The exhibition is the first step in Irthi’s exploration of the idea of the recipe as a design concept, from which emerges an ongoing cultural dialogue between East and West and between craftsmanship and contemporary aesthetics.

A hub of global crafts collaborations, the Council ensures the modernization of traditional crafts, and creates new market opportunities for local craftswomen by partnering them with international designers and artists, merging Emirati crafts and artisanal techniques with cutting-edge design and innovation to produce Emirati crafted products reflective of the culture today. The Council seeks to create a valued women-artisan economy by creating a sustainable market in which re-contextualised traditional crafts and crafted products exist. Its collections have been staged on coveted global platforms like the London Design Fair, Maison d’Exceptions at Premiere Vision Paris and Dubai’s Downtown Design.

Irthi is an affiliate of NAMA Women Advancement Establishment (NAMA) and operates under the patronage 
of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of NAMA.