On 8 October 2026, the Arab World Institute named five winners and one special mention. The announcement comes a few months after the letter of intent signed with the Sawiris Foundation, which will support the 2027 edition.
According to the Institute’s announcement, the jury selected five winners across five categories, then added a special mention because of the quality of the applications. The prize, now in its second edition, aims to bring recognition to the creation, know-how and diversity of talent in the Arab world.
Fatma Mostafa (Egypt) receives the accessories talent prize. Her contemporary jewellery studio combines textile embroidery and metal in a single structure, a method the Institute presents as conceptual rather than decorative.
Ibrahim Shebani (Libya and Tunisia) is recognised in the creative entrepreneurship category for Born in Exile. The brand’s collections are developed and produced in Tunisia, with materials bought mainly in Italy and Spain.
Salim Azzam (Lebanon) wins the talent prize for creative excellence and know-how. His pieces are made using artisanal techniques by women artisans of Mount Lebanon, from motifs of the Chouf region.
The emerging talent prize goes to Ayham Hassan (Palestine). His graduate collection at Central Saint Martins, IM-Mortal Magenta, is featured in the exhibition “The Only True Protest Is Beauty”, organised by the Fondazione Dries Van Noten as part of the 61st Venice Biennale. According to the Institute, his work has also joined the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and of MoMu in Antwerp.
The special mention goes to Hind Hilal (Palestine). Her studio, HINDHILAL, based in Bethlehem, produces limited editions with local manufacturers, after a design phase carried out in-house.
The special jury prize is awarded to Hazem Kais (Lebanon) for GOODKILL, a house that sculpts, layers, moulds, ages and naturally dyes its fabrics.
Read together, the notices almost always place the place of manufacture on the same level as the design: Tunisia for Born in Exile, the Chouf for Salim Azzam, Bethlehem for HINDHILAL. Those of Fatma Mostafa and Hazem Kais speak mainly of process. In this text the Institute publishes neither the evaluation criteria nor the make-up of the jury: it is therefore impossible to say whether this trait stems from the jurors’ choice or from the way the profiles are told.
The prize already has a relay for what follows: the Sawiris Foundation is supporting the 2027 edition, the first concrete outcome of the letter of intent signed on 16 June 2026 at the Institute. The list of winners establishes six names; it does not yet say what the jury weighed, and that is what the 2027 criteria will need to clarify.
Cette publication est également disponible en :
