Areen is a Palestinian textile artist and designer, and currently based in Dubai, UAE. Her artistic practice has always aligned closely with textiles, in form and in its principles. She found textiles to be a flexible medium that allowed her to bring together different threads into one piece, something that is a reflection of her cultural identity. Her practice blurs the boundaries between humans and objects in a totality that brings forth the vibrancy and harmony of Arabian Culture. The meeting of materials, colors, shapes, orientation and patterns in composition enables the viewer to observe the work as an embodied universe of symbolic meaning, often showing concern with the path we take through life.

Areen had her first solo exhibition titled ‘By Areen بيد عرين’ at The Art Centre in Manama, Bahrain, in 2021. She was invited by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities. Furthermore, she presented her solo exhibition ‘The Mother Thread’ at the Dubai Design District in 2022. In addition to these, Areen has participated in several collective exhibitions between Palestine, Beirut, Dubai, Bahrain, New York, Germany, and Poland. Also, she was awarded The Justus Brinckmann Award at the MKG Museum in Hamburg, Germany, in 2019 and her artwork has become part of the Islamic Department at the MKG Museum.

In addition to these, Areen’s journey extends to her role as a Textile Designer, with enriching internships at international studios such as Mirjam Rouden Ltd in London and Zisser Textile Design in Stockholm, Sweden. Her creations have been sought after by notable brands including H&M Sweden, Hanno Stuff, Eloquii, Guarisco, Noisy May, Atoll Palme, Bora Aksu, TJX MAX, Cole Hahn, Olsen, Mille Mails, Equipment, Alexander Henry, Voyager, Jacquie E, and other stories.

Areen says, “As a designer/artist, my work engages with Islamic art as a living form of art that endlessly sculpts daily life. I aim to go beyond the visual perception of Islamic art to investigate an embodied participatory language through which I represent it. My work blurs the boundaries between humans and objects in a totality that brings forth the vibrancy and harmony of Islamic art. The meeting of materials, colors, shapes, orientation and patterns in composition enables the viewer to observe the work as an embodied universe of symbolic meaning, often showing concern with the path we take through life. Drawing on embroidery as a tradition from the Levant region, I constantly attempt to modernize and enhance the methods by playing with technologies and multimedia to experiment with the idea of transparency and reversing the function of a material.”