For Paris Design Week 2025 Zakaria exhibited work in collaboration with Rein Kooyman (Amsterdam) and Fred Heinsohn (Berlin). Both research approaches are grounded in the intersection of human interference with the floor beneath our feet. As follows background in detail.
Rein Kooyman
'For this project, I reconnect my studio in Amsterdam with the natural landscape of the Écrins in France, a place that holds deep significance for my work.
It is from this region that I bring and return stones for my installation pieces, creating an ongoing dialogue between these two landscapes.
I walked a distance of 1086 kilometers on a canvas measuring 5 by 3 meters. The canvas is coated with slate clay and dust collected from the Veneon river, A river that shaped my practice during the ten years I've spent walking in this area.
The 1086 kilometer distance mirrors the exact stretch between the door of my studio and the source of the Veneon River.
To complete this journey, I am using a step counter to track my progress on the canvas. I began the walk on the first day of winter 2024 and finished walking on the first day of spring 2025. In total 1.4 million steps will be imprinted onto the canvas.
The essence of walking's freedom is its relationship with time: You are no longer tied to schedules but instead move at your own natural rhythm. This work invites grounding in the present, allowing tie to unfold with every deliberate step.'
'My work explores the intersection of human presence and the natural world, emphasizing cycles of movement, transformation, and return. In an era of overproduction, digital distractions, and urban chaos, I seek to cultivate stillness, contemplation, and a deeper awareness of materiality. Through installations, performance, photography and film, I invite viewers to let go of urgency and reconnect with presence.
At the core of my practice is an ongoing dialogue with the landscape, shaped by solitary walks through diverse terrains. I collect stones, bark, and other organic materials, each carrying a history of time, erosion, and change, and reconfigure them into sculptural installations that amplify the overlooked rhythms of nature. These works do not impose, but rather act as meditations on transience, inviting questions about our place in a world that exists beyond human control.'
Translating Kooymans recent work ‘Navigating by the Unseen’ into textile, the collaboration with Zakaria Rugs reimagines the rug as both functional object and contemplative surface. Crafted with Zakaria’s expertise, the rug reflects Kooyman’s ongoing dialogue with landscape and material presence, where nothing remains static and everything is in flux.
Fred Heinsohn
is a Berlin-based Art director who specializes in creating unique visual languages. Drawing inspiration from queer and feminist theory, art, music, and architecture, Heinsohn‘s designs are examining and interpreting dominant cultures of today. With notable clients such as A24 and Mugler, Heinsohn‘s dedication to collaboration and handcrafted artworks is at the heart of his creative process. With a Master of Arts degree from The University of Arts and critical acclaim for his work, Heinsohn‘s designs inspire progress through combining rigor and enthusiasm. With a deep understanding of the power of visual communication, Heinsohn creates thought-provoking designs that support a diverse range of clients in communicating their visions in meaningful and impactful ways. Overall, Heinsohn‘s work is a testament to the power of collaboration, conceptual thinking, and ingenuity in shaping the design landscape.
For this collaboration, Fred Heinsohn framed his research around the moment of contact between human and floor, redrawing prints on different surfaces. Using variations in texture and thread height, he translates an abstract imprint of a sneaker into a rug.
