Qatar Week

Join Sarah Elawad, Reema Abu Hassan, and Nada Elkharashi for a series of focused perspectives on sustainability in design. Drawing on their own practices, they will explore preserving cultural traditions, using materials responsibly, and reducing environmental impact.

Sarah examines how design can preserve and build upon the visual traditions of the region. Reema, through ceramics and craft, focuses on material experimentation and responsible making. Nada designs with the environment in mind, considering how materials, everyday use, water, and climate all connect. Together, they present sustainability not as an additional requirement, but as a mindset capable of shaping more meaningful design.

The session also offers insight into how varied a designer’s career can look today. Sarah works across design, teaching, consulting, art, and publishing. Reema divides her time between teaching, her own design practice, and running Clay Encounters, her ceramics business. Nada teaches at VCUarts Qatar while also conducting research and design work for real-world clients, consistently keeping sustainability part of the conversation. Their experiences illustrate how designers today often take on multiple roles, including maker, teacher, researcher, business owner, and collaborator, while moving between creative and professional work.

October 12, 2026
9:30 – 11:30 a.m. (EDT)

ICA

Open to all students, faculty and staff. 

This exhibition brings together Interior Design students from VCUarts’ Richmond and Qatar campuses collaborating on submissions for Steelcase’s 2026 NEXT Student Design Competition.

Through weekly online sessions, students work in small groups across continents, using video calls, digital whiteboards, and other tools to develop and discuss their design ideas together in real time. This international collaboration gives students access to a wider range of perspectives, experiences, and skills than they would normally find in a single classroom. This connection between two classrooms broadens the design process, opening up new possibilities for exploration as they learn from one another and gain a deeper appreciation for different viewpoints and cultures.

Rather than focusing only on final results, the exhibition highlights design as an active, evolving process. It reflects an experimental and technology-driven approach to teaching that is only possible because VCUarts operates across two campuses. The exhibition works as a living archive and studio space, blending traditional and experimental methods, digital and hands-on techniques, to give viewers a clear look into how global design collaboration actually happens.

The exhibition takes place at the same time in two locations, The Anderson in Richmond and the Saffron Hall Project Space in Doha, with materials from the two campuses on display in both spaces. Together, these exhibitions celebrate and strengthen the relationship between Doha and Richmond while creating new opportunities for future collaboration.

Organized by The Gallery and Interior Design Department at VCUarts Qatar, in partnership with The Anderson and the Interior Design Department at VCUarts Richmond, and led by faculty members Kristin Carleton (Richmond) and Dr. Haitham El-Hammali (Doha). 

View contributors to this exhibition here.

October 12, 2026
5 – 6 p.m. (EDT)

The Anderson

Open to the Public

The exhibition will remain available for viewing until October 31, 2026.

As part of Qatar Week celebrations, the annual Qatar Week Reception brings together program participants, Virginia Commonwealth University leadership, donors, and distinguished guests for an evening of connection at the Scott House.

The reception highlights the relationships and shared experiences that connect our communities across campuses, disciplines, and geographies, while creating opportunities for conversation, collaboration, and new possibilities.

By invitation only.

This informal gathering brings together students who have taken part in academic, leadership, and international programs connecting VCU’s Richmond and Doha campuses. These include connections made through the Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic, student leadership exchanges, study abroad, and shared participation in international events such as the London Design Biennale and La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale).

Students will share brief reflections on their experiences, the relationships they built, and how these opportunities shaped their academic, professional, or personal growth. The gathering celebrates the many connections formed between students across our two campuses and highlights the lasting impact of creating meaningful opportunities for them to learn from and alongside one another.

October 13, 2026
12 – 1:20 p.m. (EDT)

Shift Retail Lab

Open to SOTA students

Connecting the two campuses, we are bringing dynamic activities to the classrooms. Students enrolled in select courses will join the presentations and workshops to collaborate, experiment, and create together.

October 14, 2026

Beyond the Portfolio: The Entrepreneurial Journey

An interactive session led by VCUarts Qatar alumni Sarah Elawad, Reema Abu Hassan, and Nada Elkharashi with Hawa Stwodah and Jennie Cook‘s senior students in Fashion Design and Merchandising. Through student-led questions, alumni will share their entrepreneurial journeys, challenges, successes, and insights into building a professional identity and establishing a creative business.

9 – 10:15 a.m. (EDT)

For students enrolled in the FASH 404 (Design Portfolio), FASH 340 (Merchandising Portfolio), and FASH 445 (Entrepreneurship) courses.

Interior Design Studio Review

Dr. Haithem A. El-Hammali will join Kristin Carleton‘s Senior Interior Design Studio as a guest reviewer for students’ mid-term presentations. The session will also feature a discussion tied to the ongoing collaboration between the Qatar and Richmond senior studios on the Steelcase project.

9 a.m. – 12 p.m. (EDT)

For students enrolled in the IDES 400 (Senior Interior Design Studio, Section 001) course.

Sample Room Techniques for Fashion

Informed by substantial industry experience, this hands-on demonstration session with master tailor Sulthan Abdul Cader Abdul Rahhem explores professional tailoring techniques and approaches to streamline construction in sample making and production.

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. (EDT)

For students enrolled in the FASH 440 (Line Development Studio) and FASH 305 (Advanced Tailoring) courses.

The 2026 Qatar Week Creative Research PechaKucha will feature six presentations—three from VCUarts and three from VCUarts Qatar—highlighting research and projects featured in our recent participation in the Venice Biennale. 

This is an exciting opportunity for faculty to come together, connect, and learn more about the meaningful research undertaken on the two SOTA campuses. Faculty will present research from across a wide array of domains and disciplines, including forthcoming projects and activities, recently completed works, or their research objectives at large. 

The presentations will follow the traditional format of 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide, with each faculty or faculty team having 6 minutes and 40 seconds to discuss their work. This format encourages a dynamic exchange of ideas, sparking cross-campus dialogue and highlighting the breadth of creative inquiry across both campuses.

VCUarts Qatar presentations:

• Astrid Kensinger
• Louis-Philippe Demers 
• Rola Khayyat

VCUarts Richmond presentations:

• Paul Thulin-Jiménez
• Sara D. Reed and Hawa Stwodah
• Sara Wilson McKay

October 14, 2026
2 – 4 p.m. (EDT)

ICA

Open to the Public