Across the Middle East, trailblazing female artists and creatives have long shaped the culture and design scene, often without the same level of visibility as their male counterparts. Through craft, image, and design, they have carried memory, identity, and tradition forward, building a visual language that feels both personal and collective. Their work has pushed the idea of the female gaze into something more grounded and self-defined. What is shifting now is the confidence around it. A new generation is less concerned with fitting into existing systems and more focused on setting its own terms. At the same time, the audience has changed. People are no longer looking to simply acquire objects. Discerning collectors want to understand them – the story, context, and connection now carry as much weight as the work itself. It has shifted from just pure product acquisition to a participatory culture where the boundaries between exhibition, retail, and cultural space feel less fixed, and the experience around the work matters just as much as the piece. What stays with you is not just what you see, but what it means and who it comes from.
Lara Jabara, co-founder of FAME Collective
This is where Lara Jabara positions FAME Collective as a space that reflects how women in the region actually create and connect. Italian-Lebanese, raised between Athens and Beirut and now based in Dubai, Jabara brings a curated perspective (think Sarah Andelman of Colette) formed throughout her experience in image making and spending much of her life as a fine artist.
“For so long, our stories have been told about us, not by us,” she says. “Our region, rich in culture, heritage, and creativity, deserves so much more recognition. The realisation came gradually through my work and research. I became passionate about bridging the gap between Middle Eastern creatives and the global stage. I was constantly encountering incredibly powerful women artists and designers whose work felt globally relevant, yet they weren’t being presented within international conversations in a meaningful way. Often, their work was framed through a narrow cultural lens or simply overlooked. That absence made me realise there was a real gap, never in talent, but in visibility, context, and representation. This is how FAME was born, a platform that not only showcases and champions female art and design from our region but also a space for women to express their authentic selves, connect, and be celebrated,” she explains. That thinking sits at the centre of FAME Collective, the platform she co-founded, which brings together contemporary art, collectible design, jewellery, and fashion under one space.
“We always get that question. I honestly, I love it… So what we say is, we’re the first female collective platform in the MENA region for all things contemporary art, collectible design, fine jewellery and luxury fashion. A hub for women’s creativity in the region,” she says, framing it in the most direct way. But the intention behind it runs deeper. Jabara expands, “By allowing those disciplines to coexist, we create a richer narrative about contemporary creativity from the region. It is through our different creative disciplines, and shared space that fosters women to connect, inspire one another, and build a community that grows and multiplies, which is the true essence of FAME.”
It did not start as a business idea. It started with a gap. “After university, we just wanted to host an exhibition in Athens for female Arab art,” she says. “When we did that event, I looked around and thought, ‘Why isn’t this a thing? Why doesn’t this exist?’ That question stayed, and eventually turned into a platform that gives women from the region space to show their work on their own terms. It’s not about breaking stereotypes for the sake of it, it’s about owning our narrative and celebrating the depth of our culture in a modern, unapologetic way. “It’s an online platform, and we do curated pop-ups, collaborations and events throughout the year. Because we have many different disciplines – contemporary art, collectible design, fashion – it gives us the freedom and flexibility to do different things and connect to different women.”
The latest pop-up, a ladies’ majlis, was held in March at Arts Club Dubai. Jabara shares, “We had a panel talk with Nada Debs, Bokja, and Carla Baz, who are, you know, female pillars in design for the region.” For her, it is the ecosystem that truly sets the collective apart. It is as much about discovering new works as it is about exchanging perspectives with the community. She adds, “My favourite thing whenever we host pop-ups or events is the energy in the room. It’s women coming together, it’s collaborative, it’s all about community. I want it to be an experience so we created a space where we teach our audience the story behind the piece, behind the designer, behind the artist.”
At its core, the female gaze here is not about how something looks. It is about who is speaking. “When women speak through their own work, whether through jewellery, objects, or art, they bring nuance, intimacy, and complexity that can’t be replicated from the outside,” she says. You do not need a background in art to understand it. You just need to see that the work comes from a real place.
Jabara’s experience as a creative director shapes how she builds that connectivity. “My background in creative direction trained me to think in narratives and systems rather than isolated objects,” she says. “I’m always interested in how a piece lives beyond itself, what story it carries, how it communicates identity, and how it sits within a broader cultural conversation.” It is a way of working that makes every piece feel considered, not random.
That becomes more meaningful when exploring where the work comes from. “Embroidery, patterns, and fabrics often reflect a region, tribe, or tradition, carrying techniques and meanings passed down through generations,” she says. “Each garment tells a story about the people and cultures that created it.” For Jabara, showing that properly matters. “They hold the memory of communities and craftsmanship, and honouring them means keeping those stories alive.” The collective moves across disciplines because the work itself does. “Jewellery can be sculpture, textiles can be storytelling, objects can be archives,” she says. Bringing them together allows you to see the full picture, rather than fragments.
When it comes to choosing who to work with, Jabara’s approach stays instinctive. “I always look for artists who are telling their own unique story,” she explains. “Authenticity is the most important thing. People can feel that.” It keeps the focus on honesty rather than trends. “Many of the artists we work with are navigating layered identities, diasporic experiences, family traditions, political histories, and contemporary life. When those elements appear in their work, they create pieces that are both deeply personal and universally relatable to women everywhere. When women create from this place of authenticity, their work becomes more than an object or artwork, it becomes a narrative. These stories allow others to see the region through a more nuanced lens that reveals the richness, diversity, and complexity of women’s lives and creative voices. In doing so, they not only preserve cultural memory but also reshape how the region is understood, both from within and from the outside.”
Beyond the work, the community sits at the centre of everything. “Building female community isn’t just something that FAME collective does, it’s truly the backbone of who it is,” she says. The goal is to create a space where women can support each other, share ideas, and grow, both creatively and professionally. That carries into how people experience it. “We like to have our designers or artists there so it’s not transactional,” she says. “It’s about getting to know the artist and the piece before you buy it.” The connection comes first, the purchase comes after. “Creation by women is how history was passed down to me – through my grandmother, through art, through cooking, through music, through any form of creation,” she says. Today, she works closely with her mother Christiana, an art curator, and that relationship continues to shape the platform. “It’s expanded how we can connect to so many different women because it’s two eyes, two generations, two different tastes.” Looking ahead, her focus stays open. “Long term, I see FAME evolving into a cultural ecosystem,” she says. “A space for exchange between regions and disciplines.” For now, the aim is simple: to keep building something where women can show up as they are.
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