Talin Hazbar's Material Archaeology: From Syrian Courtyards to Design Doha

Syrian-born, UAE-raised artist and designer Talin Hazbar transforms fragments of rock, sand, and ghost fishing nets into installations that explore cultural memory, impermanence, and ecological change. Her practice, rooted in a childhood habit of collecting stones in Aleppo's citadel and later studying architecture at the American University of Sharjah, treats materials as archives of social and natural history. For the postponed Design Doha Biennial (November 2026), Hazbar will present 'At the center, water gathers what the city remembers' in the 'Arab Design Now' exhibition curated by Noura Al Sayeh Holtrop. The installation uses stones from the Levant to build a totem of interlocking fountains, reimagining the traditional Syrian bah-rah courtyard fountain without nostalgia. Her ongoing series 'Sediments' compresses recycled ghost fishing nets into marble-like slabs, collected with fishermen and divers in Sharjah. Earlier works include 'Earth Readings' in Alula (2022), made of 1,360 mud bricks from meaningful sites, later shown at Art Basel Paris 2024, and 'Resting Grounds', an undulating sand landscape first exhibited in Abu Dhabi in 2025, to be shown again at Le Végétal art fair in Arles, France (3-6 July 2026). Hazbar collaborates with her sister Tulip, who will create an audio accompaniment for the Design Doha installation. Her work has been exhibited at the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the NGV Triennial in Melbourne.