There are certain rooms you walk into where you immediately understand that the conversations happening inside them will shape projects far beyond their walls.
HI Design MEA in Muscat was one of those rooms.
For those unfamiliar with it, HI Design MEA is not a traditional trade show. It is a curated, invitation-only gathering of leading hospitality designers, architects, developers and selected suppliers from across the Middle East and Africa. The format is intentionally intimate. One-on-one meetings replace exhibition stands. Conversations replace pitches. Relationships replace transactions.
It is where some of the region’s most significant hospitality projects quietly begin to take shape.
This year, the event was hosted in Muscat, Oman, bringing together an exceptional group of design leaders and decision-makers responsible for shaping some of the most ambitious hotel and resort developments across the region. Attendees included senior figures from globally recognised hospitality groups and design studios, all focused on one thing: creating spaces that are not only luxurious, but meaningful.
Within that context, my presence there stood slightly outside the norm.
I was the only artist invited among the suppliers.
And the only one representing Sub-Saharan Africa.
That distinction was not lost on me.
A Different Kind of Conversation
Much of the dialogue at HI Design MEA centred around a theme that is becoming increasingly important in high-end hospitality: cultural narrative.
There is a growing recognition that luxury is no longer defined purely by materials or finishes. Marble, brass and neutral palettes can create beautiful environments, but they do not necessarily create identity.
The question many designers are now asking is far more interesting:
What makes a space feel like it belongs?
This is where art enters the conversation in a different way.
In many projects, artwork is still introduced late in the process. It is specified, sourced and installed once the design is largely complete. It fills walls, balances compositions and enhances the visual experience.
But increasingly, designers are exploring the opportunity to do something more intentional.
To commission artwork early.
To build it into the cultural narrative of the project from the beginning.
To allow it to shape, not just decorate.
This was a conversation I found myself having repeatedly over the course of the event. Sitting across from design directors, interior architects and hospitality leaders, there was a shared curiosity around how art could move from being an afterthought to becoming part of the foundation of a project.
From Supplier to Collaborator
What made these conversations particularly meaningful was the shift in perspective.
Rather than discussing artwork as a product, the focus was on collaboration.
How does an artist engage with a design team early enough to influence the direction of a project
How can cultural narratives be translated into visual form in a way that feels authentic rather than applied
What does it look like when art is not selected to match a space, but created to belong to it
These are the questions that move art out of procurement and into partnership.
As someone whose work is rooted in cultural narratives across Africa, this is where my practice naturally sits. My work draws from lived experience, from travel across the continent, and from an ongoing exploration of identity, power and joy.
Being part of these discussions in a room filled with some of the most respected voices in hospitality design reinforced something I have believed for a long time.
Art has a far greater role to play in shaping spaces than it is often given.
The Weight of Representation
There was also a quieter, more personal layer to the experience.
To be the only artist in the room is one thing.
To be the only representative of Sub-Saharan Africa is another.
It carries a certain responsibility.
Not just to present work, but to represent a perspective. To contribute to conversations about culture, identity and place from a position that is both personal and regional.
Africa is often referenced in global design, but not always represented from within.
To be able to bring that voice into a space like HI Design MEA, and to engage directly with designers and developers working across the Middle East and beyond, felt significant.
Not as a statement of arrival, but as part of an ongoing conversation.
A Seat at the Table
HI Design MEA is not an event you attend passively.
It is structured around direct engagement. Every meeting is intentional. Every conversation has the potential to evolve into a collaboration.
Across the event, I had the opportunity to sit down with leading interior designers, architects and representatives from major hospitality groups. These are the teams shaping the next generation of luxury hotels, resorts and mixed-use developments across the region.
What stood out was not just the scale of the projects being discussed, but the level of thought being applied to them.
There is a clear shift happening.
Designers are moving beyond creating beautiful spaces and towards creating meaningful ones.
And within that shift, art is becoming increasingly central.
Looking Forward
Leaving Muscat, the sense was not of a single event concluded, but of conversations started.
The relationships built in rooms like this do not end when the event does. They continue into projects, into collaborations, into spaces that will eventually be experienced by thousands of people.
If there is one takeaway, it is this:
Art is beginning to move upstream in the design process.
From finishing touch to foundational element.
From decoration to narrative.
From product to collaboration.
To have been part of that conversation, in that room, with that group of people, is something I am deeply grateful for.
And quietly proud of.
Because moments like this do not just reflect where the work is today.
They point to where it is going.
♡ Sketchy Brett