Srinagar: A traditional coding system used by Kashmiri artisans in carpet and Kani shawl weaving found a new expression in architecture through an installation titled ‘Taleem’ at Dubai Design Week 2026.
Presented by architecture and research practice VARUSSI under the Abwab programme, the installation drew inspiration from ‘taleem’, the traditional coding system through which complex designs are translated into sequences of instructions that guide Kashmiri craftspeople in the weaving process.
The installation was on display at Dubai Design District from November 3 to 8. Rather than recreating familiar motifs and patterns of Kashmiri carpets and shawls, the project explored the knowledge system behind their creation and how traditional skills are communicated, interpreted and passed down through generations.
Owais Asif Khan, co-founder of VARUSSI, said Abwab at Dubai Design Week provided an opportunity to explore language as a spatial experience.
“Rooted in the coded instructions used by Kashmiri carpet weavers, the project began with an interest in how knowledge is communicated, interpreted and carried forward through generations,” Khan told The Kashmir Monitor. “What began as a system of instructions gradually became a spatial proposition, one that could be experienced, interpreted and understood differently from different positions,” he added.
He said the installation turned this traditional language into a structure that visitors could explore from different perspectives. It highlighted the knowledge and skill behind Kashmiri textiles.
Khan said the process also brought the team closer to the relationship between craft, material and architecture, reminding them that “the act of making is often as important as the final form”.
He said he was pleased with the positive response to the installation from art lovers and the prominent coverage it received in Middle Eastern media and art circles.
VARUSSI was founded by Owais Asif Khan and Samreen Junaid Wani.