WE PRESENT YOU JURY MEMBERS OF COW 2021 DESIGN BIENNALE
COW 2021 JURY
Dr. ARAFAT AL-NAIM, UAE
Dr. Arafat Al-Naim (1966) BFA, MFA, PhD in graphic arts and MST in art teaching. Academic Leader, graphic artist, designer, and the moving spirit behind international art and design projects. Lectured and presented at international conferences and exhibitions in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Italy, North Ireland, Macedonia, Germany, Bulgaria, USA, Canada, Cyprus, South Africa, Tunisia, the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, China, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Syria, Turkey, Ecuador, UAE, Jordan. Graphic works of Dr. Arafat can be found in Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas (USA), Portland Art Museum (USA), Museum of Modern Art Wales, Machynlleth (UK), Wrexham Yale Memorial Gallery, Wrexham (UK), State Museum Gyõr (Hungary), University of Wales Collection, Aberystwyth (UK), Nord Art – Kunstwerk Carlshütte (Germany) and others. Outstanding Contribution to Education (The Middle East Education Leadership Awards 2016), Best Professor in Design (Asian Education Leadership Awards 2014, 2017), “Rhea Baily” Art Award (IBC, Cambridge, UK, 2008) and Silver Award /Environmental Poster Design, United Design Alliance International Design Competition 2019. Dr. Arafat has received in recognition of his contribution to global visual design, education and professional practice. Dr. Al-Naim is Professor of Graphic Arts and Design, former Dean of College of Design at American University in the Emirates, Member of ICO-D (Education Network), Worldwide Graphic Designers (WGD), Initiator/curator and director of the Emirates International Poster Festival, International SYMPOSIODESIGN – Amman, Chair of International Design Conference, executive director of the United Designs Alliance, director of China Europe International Design Culture Association.
OKSANA KHMELENKO, Ukraine
Member of the Designers Union of Ukraine. Head of the Department of Fineart, Decorative-Applied Arts and Design of the Dnepropetrovsk Professional Art College of Culture, teacher of special disciplines. She is a participant in many professional festivals and exhibitions. Has been working in the field of design for over 20 years in the areas of Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Product Design. Design developments have been successfully implemented in Ukraine and abroad. The works of individual authors’ designs of the Fashion direction adorn the private collections of Ukraine, Switzerland, the USA, and Germany.
MOHAMMAD AFSHAR, Iran
Art Director and Graphic Designer. The member of Iran Theater Froum Poster Designers’ association.
The winner of more than 50 national and international awards and honors. Exhibit of the works in more than 200 national & international graphic exhibition, festivals. Member of the pre-selection board and the jury of 24 creditable international festivals in Ukraine, Iran, Mexico, Ecuador, France, Kyrgyzstan, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, Moldova, Russia etc. Teaching posters at the university.
OLGA DIAKONOVA, Ukraine
Graduated from the Faculty of Industrial Design of the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts in 1996. Founder and co-owner of Ecles LLC. a member of the Designers Union of Ukraine. Participant in many professional festivals and exhibitions. She works in industrial design for over 20 years, designing and implementation of small architectural forms, stairs in private and public spaces. Over the years, she has been developed several technological discoveries, which allowed not only to build special individual construction but also to leave a good impression on the customer, many of whom remained good friends for many years.
MARIO FUENTES, Ecuador
Studied Design and Visual Communication. The main focus of his work is the Concept, the same one that determines the aesthetics of each proposal, where the technique empowers this concept in order to capture looks and detonate consciences.
Among the awards he has obtained are: 4 Golden awarded by the prestigious international publisher Graphis Inc. founded in 1944 in Zurich, Switzerland, currently based in New York City, USA. Gold Award in the TIGDA 2015 (Taiwan International Graphic Design Award) Category Poster. Taipei, China. First Prize at FINI 2016 (International Image Festival) in the Professional Poster category in Pachuca, Mexico. Bronze Prize in the 10th International Poster Triennial in Toyama, Japan, and more others. In 2011 his poster entitled “Bad Signs” was recognized as one of the 10 best of 2780 works submitted from around the world for the Poster for Tomorrow project in Paris, France. This allowed it to form part of the permanent collection of prestigious design museums. To date, it has received 36 international awards, has participated in more than 300 collective poster exhibitions around the world, has a traveling solo exhibition as part of the Ecuador Poster Bienal First Edition; also has been selected in Biennials and Triennials of Design and Poster in different countries such as: Poland, Belgium, Japan, China, Finland, Mexico, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, Peru, Bolivia, Cuba, and Ecuador.