My name is Iman Shihab, I design kilim! Yes, I studied engineering but my passion towards art was greater, I worked as a graphic designer for many years, then life drove me away to raise my beautiful 3 girls and was so taken by the responsibilities to the extent that I began working other jobs such as admin work or even a teacher, but was never satisfied. Then an internal revolution inside me drove my skills of design toward art. So, I attended a lot of workshops that had the scope of using your own hands such as painting, calligraphy and weaving. The kilim motifs were a great inspiration to me, they triggered me badly to return to the computer screen and start designing compositions, adding colors and inserting my simple arabic typography designs. In 2017, I started a drive to revive the kilim industry by creating original designs through recomposing authentic patterns, abstract color schemes together with handcrafting techniques. March 2018, I found my dream coming true when I first exposed my pieces to markets, and people bought them — giving me very high praises and I even saw people taking photos beside my work! My kilim pieces have a different perspective, you can use it as an art unit serving the decor requirements, hang it, put it on the sofa, sit on it and match all together as a setting.
Maker Story
My name is Iman Shihab, I design kilim! Yes, I studied engineering but my passion towards art was greater, I worked as a graphic designer for many years, then life drove me away to raise my beautiful 3 girls and was so taken by the responsibilities to the extent that I began working other jobs such as admin work or even a teacher, but was never satisfied. Then an internal revolution inside me drove my skills of design toward art. So, I attended a lot of workshops that had the scope of using your own hands such as painting, calligraphy and weaving. The kilim motifs were a great inspiration to me, they triggered me badly to return to the computer screen and start designing compositions, adding colors and inserting my simple arabic typography designs. In 2017, I started a drive to revive the kilim industry by creating original designs through recomposing authentic patterns, abstract color schemes together with handcrafting techniques. March 2018, I found my dream coming true when I first exposed my pieces to markets, and people bought them — giving me very high praises and I even saw people taking photos beside my work! My kilim pieces have a different perspective, you can use it as an art unit serving the decor requirements, hang it, put it on the sofa, sit on it and match all together as a setting.