200grs. Biography

Starting from our fascination with the city as a melting pot of cultures, we, Rana Haddad and Pascal Hachem, co-founded design studio 200Grs in 2013 with the vision of a practice that positively fuels and maintains the life of our city, Beirut.

Our work learns from the region's geographic richness and artisanal know-how for the production of bespoke pieces that challenge spatial constraints and address social trends through the ingenuity of design. Each of our artistic yet functional items are authentic, a unique manifestation of the concepts of materiality, elasticity, tension and balance. We bring into play Lebanese local craftmanship and artisanal skill that stem from a mix of the region's different histories and that are at a risk of disappearing.

We believe our practice distinguishes itself in our very hands-on process of collaboration with local makers and artisans in an attempt to revive their craft and to push their skill into a more contemporary framework. It is through this process of experimentation with new crafts that our designs find no limitation in terms of choice of material, form and function.

Growing up in a city that taught us to live one day at a time, we create items that perform in the same manner, objects that generate an emotional and ergonomic relationship with the end-user. Our work falls within a discourse of thought that re- questions art and design as a practice and positions it as a tool with a potential for social impact and change.

Recently the Victoria and Albert Museum, V&A in London, UK; acquired pieces from 200Grs.

Rana Haddad, an AA graduate, started her research workshop in 1997. Set up along with her practice with the aim of questioning the ability of objects and places to become a means of political expression in Beirut. Soon after, these quests turned into public installation works puncturing the city grabbing people's attention locally and internationally. With her students and colleagues, Rana Haddad has produced several public installations and performances in Beirut and internationally. She is currently an assistant professor at the American University of Beirut, where she established BePublic Lab in 2012.

Pascal Hachem is an artist / product designer represented by Selma Feriani Gallery in Tunis / London and Schiavo Zoppelli Gallery in Milan. He is the co-founder of 200Grs. Pascal's work and the city are highly integrated. In Beirut, life goes on from one day to the next without the knowledge of what tomorrow will bring. Therefore, the artist's perception of the future and its uncertainty defines the transitory nature of his work. He's the winner of several awards such as Bang & Olufsen and the Boghossian prize, Brussels. And his work is part of Nadour Collection in Germany and Galila Barzilai- Hollander Collection in Belgium.

Courtesy Galerie Tanit, Munich/Beyrouth