Dubai-based Creative Dialogues has announced the launch of TheMENAEdit, a cross-border design collective that will bring together 21 creatives from 10 countries across the Middle East and North Africa for a collaborative exhibition at Cairo Design Week 2026.
The initiative, co-produced by Creative Dialogues, Cairo-based Design Point Studio, and Creative Districts, is being described as the region’s first structured cross-border design collaboration programme. The exhibition will be held during the fourth edition of Cairo Design Week from November 19 to 28.
TheMENAEdit will see seven groups of creatives work together to develop original limited-edition design objects inspired by shared heritage, diverse perspectives, and collective experiences. Each group will include participants from different parts of the MENA region alongside an Egyptian creative leading the project on the ground.
According to the organisers, the exhibition will showcase not only the finished works but also the collaborative process behind them, highlighting research, concept development, design, prototyping, and production.
The programme features architects, artists, designers, curators, urban practitioners, and cultural consultants from Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon, Tunisia, Iraq, and Qatar.
“TheMENAEdit exists to prove that design does not stop at borders. We are building a movement that connects creatives across this region, giving them a space to think, create, and tell their stories together. This is bigger than an exhibition, it is a new way of working, and we are only just getting started,” said Yasmine VandaTrofast, Founder and Executive Director of Creative Dialogues and YVT Consultancy.
Karim El Hayawan and Nehal Leheta, co-founders of Design Point Studio, said: “Cairo Design Week creates the space for ideas to meet, challenge, and inspire diverse creatives locally, regionally and internationally. We’re excited to join this year’s conversation with Creative Dialogues, bringing together diverse voices, perspectives, and disciplines through design.”
Yosra Sherra, Co-founder of Creative Districts, said: “The MENA Edit reflects something we strongly believe in at Creative Districts: that meaningful cultural exchange happens when people come together around a shared process, not just a shared outcome. By bringing practitioners from across the region into dialogue over an extended period of time, this initiative creates space for new perspectives, new relationships, and new ways of thinking about design. We are proud to host its first edition within Cairo Design Week and to help position Cairo as a meeting point for the region’s creative communities.”
Following its debut in Cairo, the exhibition is expected to travel across GCC countries, extending its reach and promoting creative collaboration across the region.
Creative Dialogues, powered by YVT Consultancy, describes itself as the MENA region’s first multidisciplinary platform for creatives. Since its launch, the platform says it has engaged more than 800 creatives, attract
