Egyptian artist and designer Mohamed Talaia is among 14 international collaborators selected to take part in CURIOUS STUDIO, a new global initiative launched by IQOS and new media studio OUCHHH Collective, which will debut at Dubai Design Week 2026, running from 3 to 8 November.
IQOS, the tobacco heating system developed by Philip Morris International, which describes itself as the world’s number one tobacco heating system, said the collaboration with OUCHHH Collective aims to explore the creative frontier where art, technology, and human curiosity converge.
CURIOUS STUDIO is described as an initiative that turns curiosity into a shared creative experience. Launching first in Dubai and continuing towards Milan Design Week 2027, the project invites the IQOS community into a creative process usually reserved for a select few, with the aim of transforming creativity from something observed into something shaped collectively.
The Dubai edition will bring together OUCHHH Collective and the 14 selected collaborators, who are exploring how the intersection of cultures and disciplines can inspire new perspectives. OUCHHH’s technology will be used to reveal the hidden patterns connecting their individual creative contributions.
Talaia, known for his creative approach to materials and visual expression, brings his own artistic perspective to the project. His participation follows an earlier collaboration with IQOS in Egypt this year, when he presented a contemporary artistic experience blending creativity and technology. That collaboration resulted in an IQOS limited-edition collection.
While details of the installation remain under wraps, the organisers expect the project to be among the most talked-about moments on this year’s Dubai Design Week calendar.
The event will also mark the global launch of the limited-edition IQOS ILUMA i BEYOND, which the company is presenting as the symbolic entry point into CURIOUS STUDIO. According to IQOS, the device opens the path from Dubai to Milan, revealing what the initiative can become as adult IQOS consumers around the world take part.
The initiative is built on the idea that no creation emerges from a single source, with every idea shaped by a range of people, places, gestures, instincts, memories, and emotions, according to the organisers.
