Temporal Reliquaries is a collection of objects designed and crafted in Qatar. It is a collaboration between Clay Encounters, an industry partner and 13 designers from VCU-Arts Qatar. Reema plays the role of designer, artisan, faculty member and Clay Encounters founder. It draws from her firm belief in the power of pairing design with craft to preserve and celebrate it. Her aim is to teach designers the craft and to allow them to participate in the making of their designs. Reema offered a series of workshops for the designers to learn the craft at Clay Encounters. She also focused on designing an innovative mode of working between designers and artisans that challenges the hierarchy between the two.

 The project brief focused on designing vessels for something fleeting and im-permanent. The artifacts are made of a handmade ceramic component and a machine-made stone component. Marble components were digitally drawn and specified, then cut by an industrial water jet and polished in a local stone factory. Ceramic components were wheel-thrown thrown by artisans and then trimmed and carved by the designers.  All the clay used was recycled and the stone was left over from larger projects.

Project responses include a didactic piggy bank, a pair of memorial urns for beloved pets, and a vessel for perfuming the air with scented oil. The collection showcases the range and ingenuity of designers responding to a structured brief and working with a traditional craft. The complementary processes—digital and analog—reinforce dualities embedded in the project: permanent/temporary, inert/malleable, robust/fragile. 

This collaboration between a craft studio, industry partners and designers is what makes the project unique and impactful. Only through this exchange of knowledge and skills can designers build an appreciation for the craft and preserve it.