Frequently Asked Questions

You can join the community as a tenant by renting a building or a unit. If you have a project/business idea and this fits with Al Najadah’s strategy, you can apply for the Community Membership. We are looking for emerging or established individuals or enterprises working on one of the New Crafts.

Al Najadah is a space where creative individuals and enterprises that want to grow, scale and globalize an existing project or business. At Al Najadah, the community members can learn together, collaborate and meet with a large customer/visitor base. Being a part of Al Najadah also means being a part of Qatar Museums and its large international network that supports the wider creative economy.

The first thing you need to do to apply, is to review and fill the application form on the website. Candidates who want to apply must fill out the application form. The form consist eight main sections: Key Information, Personal Information, Organization Information | Brand Information, Financial Status, Project/Business Idea for Al Najadah, Value Proposition, Long-Term Value Creation, and Support.

After the prospective tenant fills the application form in the open call, there’s a 6-step selection process.

1. We will review all submissions and select the ones who fit the criteria.
2. We will invite prospective tenants to an interview to discuss the
   project/business idea, the proposal and timeline
3. We will evaluate the project/business idea for fulfillment of minimum criteria
   and vet for eligibility.
4. We will select eligible applications to present to the Selection Committee.
5. The Selection Committee members will evaluate candidates in their field of
   depth.
6. The Selection Committee will gather to vote according to the selection
   criterias.

Emerging and established are the membership types for the Al Najadah community. Emerging describes individuals or micro-studios at the early stages of their business, looking for a space to work and showcase their talent, and partners to work with and learn from. Established describes industry-leading enterprises with an existing audience and brand presence, looking for people to collaborate with and expand globally. There is no hierarchical relationship between these two concepts. For the Al Najadah community, the tenants belonging to both titles are of equal importance to the community. The interaction of these two groups is crucial for the collaboration of learning in the community and building the future.

New Crafts is a concept that is visioned from the dualities such as past and present, tradition and innovation, handcrafts and technology. Al Najadah will meet with talented individuals who can provide a contemporary interpretation to traditional arts and history.

Applicants can show their preferences in the houses they choose by specifying the buildings or units they are interested in in the application form. However, in the final analysis, the member-building match will be made by the selection committee by evaluating all applications together and considering all criteria.

The project/business ideas to be developed for Al Najadah should touch one or more of the four functions: make, sell, show and connect. Depending on your function(s), you will be a resident of a house/unit.

The houses are ready. Once the selection process has been completed, the first residents of Al Najadah will start onboarding to pop-up activation from October to December, to take part in the opportunities which Qatar Creates and the World Cup offer.

The build-out timeline will start from January 2023, and the soft launch for opening is expected to March 2023.

The pop-up timeline for the first phase is October – December 2022, during the Qatar Creates and the World Cup. After that, Al Najadah will announce new open calls for different pop-up opportunities.

Our partnership packages have been designed to be as flexible and purposeful as possible for businesses that would like to offer support to Al Najadah while maximizing their exposure to our audience with specific interests. We see it as crucial that we maintain our collaboration mentality nourished by a community approach as an organization, and as such, we want to effectively steer the creative economy by partnering with organizations and brands that adhere to the Al Najadah values.

To become a partner, please fill out the partnership form on the website or get in touch with us via email. Please also choose the suitable partnership package with which your capabilities and expected contribution fit best. Our team will contact you in order to frame partnership relationships and sustain mutual benefits.

No, you don’t have to. Al Najadah is open for every creative, who wants to grow their business in Qatar’s creative economy.