Clay Encounters | Ceramics Design Studio

Clay Encounters is an independent ceramic design studio that was founded at the Pearl in 2018, and expanded in 2020. In 2022, the second location was opened at the Old Doha Port. 

The studio’s primary objective is to reintroduce a traditional craft through design and to draw a diversity of people to engage in making and material explorations within the realm of ceramics and design. This is to promote a studio environment that fosters collaboration among a diversity of studio members through making. 

The studio also aims to engage with the community through collaborations that harness the value of Qatar’s diverse community. The design shop invites designers and makers within Qatar and beyond to showcase and retail their products at the studio. 

The studio’s research component within the field of design is focused on incorporating digital tools into analogue modes of making within ceramics. The products that are designed and crafted at Clay Encounters are heavily impacted by digital technologies. The ongoing exploration into this has been made possible through the studio’s design shop and through collaboration with Qatar Museums, Al Jazeera, Qatar Airways, Zulal Wellness Resort and Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.