Ghassan Salameh is a Lebanese born designer, researcher and design educator with a Master’s degree in European Design Labs from IED- Madrid. Ghassan runs his independent design practice focusing on cultural programming and design research. His design portfolio extends from commissions in Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, London, Venice, Rotterdam and Lebanon and his work has been exhibited in design fairs and design galleries in London, Milan, Venice, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Madrid, Berlin and Beirut. Ghassan’s experience also includes production and operation management of the hub of contemporary art in Beirut, Beirut Art Center in 2014-15, as well as numerous collaborations on initiatives and interventions in the fields of urban design, public space and design for social impact.
In 2018, Ghassan curated Beirut Design Week’18 : Design & the City, where designers were encouraged to get socially, environmentally and politically involved through their design practices with city wide activations. In 2019, Ghassan consulted the Goethe-Institut Libanon on the Fantasmeem program, that offers vocational and educational training training programs for independent design practitioners and creative studios with the general objective at supporting the local creative industries. As of 2020, Ghassan has been appointed as Creative Director for Dubai Design Week with the mission of incorporating home-grown design programs and engaging more local and under-represented regional creatives in producing contextually and timely relevant content while focusing on designing responsibly.
( 01 )
Experience
September 2019 – December 2020
January 2019 - Present
Founder & Coordinator of DESIS-LAB Beirut
October 2018 – April 2019
Chief Advisor at Fantasmeem
October 2017 – July 2018
January 2014 – March 2015
Operations and Production Manager at Beirut Art Center
January 2013 – Present
Founder & Creative Director at Ghassan Salameh Studio
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Public Programs
November 12, 2020
Dxbdw2020 Talk; "Are Design Thinking methodologies, reshaping policy making in the urban realm?"
November 11, 2020
Dxbdw2020 Talk; "Anticipating solutions for future problems with Speculative and Critical design approaches"
November 15, 2019
Panelist at Downtown Design Forum, “Design economies in the Middle East”
May 24, 2019
MasterClass at IED design festival, "How to establish an independent practice in design and not die trying"
April 12, 2019
Panelist at IED - Milano, "Strong Foundations for Multidisciplinary careers in Design"
February 5, 2019
Panelist at Fantasmeem Focus “Design in Times of Crisis”
April 22 -28, 2018
Participant at TRACING BAUHAUS Study Tour at the Weissensee School for the Arts in Berlin, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt, and the Weissenhofsiedlung in the city of Stuttgart.
February 15, 2019
June 26, 2018
Moderator at Beirut design week 2018, "The business of Design, Design of Business"
July 19, 2018
Guest Speaker at The Urbanist Podcast, MONOCLE radio show
( 03 )
Publications
Madar Design Research Exhibition Infographics
Infographics based on data collected from various studies detailing the state of the creative industries in the MENA region.
Short Report on the Making Industry
in the UAE
Produced a report on the current state of the local making industry, identifying challenges and opportunities for establishing a sustainable industry.
The report’s findings followed design thinking activities with up to twenty UAE based designers and creative industry experts.
Views on design industry Lebanon Article commissioned by Goethe Institute-Libanon
Wrote an opinion paper on the current state of the design industry in Lebanon as part of Fantasmeem Findings program