Meet Reema Abu Hassan
Reema Abu Hassan is a Doha-based designer, architect, ceramic artisan, and educator. In 2018, she founded Clay Encounters, a ceramic design studio dedicated to reviving the craft of pottery through design, collaboration, and community engagement.
Reema teaches in the MFA in Design program at VCUarts Qatar and is currently pursuing a PhD exploring the role of female artisans and designers in shaping Qatar's cultural preservation.
Craft and design have tremendous impact, and I see them as inseparable. Together they shape culture, community, identity, and create spaces for cross-cultural exchange and cultural diplomacy.
Key Projects
- Clay Encounters - A ceramic design studio founded in Qatar in 2018, reviving the craft of pottery through design, education, and community engagement. Now with two branches across Qatar.
- Collaborative Matrix - A public artwork commissioned by Qatar Museums that repurposes Clay Encounters ceramics into terrazzo tiles. Installed at Crescent Park as flexible seating, it preserves Qatar's pottery heritage through recycled materials
- Table of Hospitality: Burned and Fired - Created during a summer design residency in France with Liwan Design Studios and Labs, this piece combines Yakisugi wood and translucent porcelain to explore fire as a creative force and reimagine the ritual of Qatari hospitality.
