Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum with a display.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) and Member of The Executive Council of Dubai, inaugurated (Apr. 25) the first permanent campus of L’ÉCOLE Middle East in strategic partnership with Dubai Design District (d3), a global creative ecosystem part of TECOM Group PJSC. Established in 2012 with the support of Van Cleef & Arpels, L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts, aims to introduce the public to all aspects of jewellery culture. It is an initiation school, open to everyone — absolute beginners as well as enlightened amateurs, collectors and those with a curiosity for the world of jewellery.

The new campus is a milestone in L’ÉCOLE’s plan to expand its global footprint, enhance its impact in the region, and engage a broader audience by leveraging Dubai’s rich cultural diversity. Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum highlighted Dubai’s growing reputation as a global centre for design and creativity and a destination for institutions, companies and brands from across the world. “Dubai offers an environment that fosters business enterprise and creativity and provides opportunities to exchange expertise in various creative fields,” she said.

“The establishment of L’ÉCOLE’s first headquarters in the Middle East in Dubai underscores the city’s pivotal role in the creative industries and its commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation.”

The inaugural ceremony was attended by senior officials from Dubai Culture and Dubai Design District (d3); Nicolas Bos, Global President & CEO of Van Cleef & Arpels; Lise MacDonald, Global President of L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts; Alessandro Maffi, President of Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East & India; and Sophie Claudel, Director of L’ÉCOLE Middle East. L’ÉCOLE aims to serve as an educational and training platform for introducing the public to jewellery culture and expanding the creative horizons for artisans and designers, enhancing their skills, promoting a knowledge-based and innovative-driven economy, and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

  A scene from one of L’ECOLE’s creative spaces.

L’ÉCOLE Middle East has introduced 13 public courses. It also opened its first regional exhibition titled Gold and Treasures: 3000 Years of Chinese Ornaments (Apr. 26 - Aug. 10). It showcases a selection of 100 masterpieces from the renowned Mengdiexuan Collection, one of Hong Kong’s premier private art collections, spanning over three millennia of goldsmithing work in China. Crystal and gold nuggets from the L’ÉCOLE collection, which emphasise the natural forms of the precious metal, are also on display.  As part of its commitment to social responsibility, L’ÉCOLE Middle East will donate 100 per cent of the proceeds from its public courses and talks to Dubai Cares, the renowned philanthropic organisation dedicated to improving access to quality education for children and young people in developing countries, focusing on the education sector.

MacDonald said that she hoped the School would take L’ECOLE “closer to audiences, universities, researchers, families and the public for the exchange of jewellery culture.” She noted that L’ECOLE would be hosting two exhibitions a year and also be holding conferences and online meets. “The online programmes would be live and translated into five languages. We will take special care to see the content has local relevance as we delve into the world of jewellery in the Middle East,” she said.

Claudel said that currently L’ECOLE Middle East has 15 staff, from different nationalities. “Each of them is hugely talented,” she said. She underlined that though the location was in Dubai, “the DNA of L’ECOLE is the same.” She said that L’ECOLE, along with partners, will be developing its programmes in the region. Olivier Segura, Managing Director, L’ECOLE Asia Pacific, who had flown in from Hong Kong with his team for the occasion, said that the Maison had a “passion for transmission” of its knowledge and expertise. “We will invest in L’ECOLE’s research programmes. The main mission is the education of the public,” he said. “Dubai has over 200 nationalities an all of them have a love for jewellery and its art. This is because every human being is linked by a passion for beauty.”

Valentina Bruccoleri, art historian, researcher, specialist in Chinese and Islamic Art and Co-Curator of Gold and Treasures: 3000 Years of Chinese Ornaments exhibition said that “Chinese ornaments reveal a diverse iconography of symbols representing concepts including happiness, longevity, rank, prosperity, and more generally, auspiciousness. The ornaments of the Mengdiexuan Collection offer a glimpse into this rich symbolic language.” She had come from Paris for the event.

Located in the Dubai Design District, the new campus designed by Constance Guisset projects L’ÉCOLE’s values of craftsmanship, heritage, and creativity. The design is also aligned with L’ÉCOLE’s educational approach, structured around three foundational pillars: Art History of Jewellery, The World of Gemstones, and Savoir-Faire, taught by art historians, gemologists, jewellers and artisans. The classes are practice-based and the students experiment with gestures, skills and tools, guided by lecturers. The School also offers other activities: exhibitions, books, videos, podcasts as well as in-person and online talks.

Creative workshops have also been created for children and teenagers. The structure ensures a comprehensive and immersive learning experience that enriches students’ understanding and appreciation of jewellery arts, it has been experienced.  L’ÉCOLE has five permanent addresses: two in Paris, one in Hong Kong, one in Shanghai and one in Dubai. L’ÉCOLE also regularly travels abroad, in Europe, America, Asia and the Middle East, for talks, exhibitions or travelling course programmes that can last one to three weeks.