For those looking for exciting dates to add to their design calendar, from 19 to 22 November, NOMAD Abu Dhabi will debut inside the decommissioned Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport. The travelling showcase, founded by Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, is known for bringing design and art to extraordinary architectural settings, from Venice to St Moritz.
For NOMAD Abu Dhabi, Bellavance-Lecompte has chosen a site rich in symbolism. Designed in the early 1980s by French architect Paul Andreu, who also created Paris Charles de Gaulle, the circular terminal is a landmark of Arabian modernism. ‘Each edition is conceived as a dialogue between art, design and place,’ he explains. ‘Reactivating this terminal as a cultural space allows us to transform a monument of mobility into a stage for creative exchange.’
More than twenty galleries will show collectible design, contemporary art and jewellery, accompanied by special projects conceived for the occasion. Among them is Destinations, a collaboration between Bottega Veneta and curator Rana Beiruti, which invites eight designers from North Africa and the Middle East to reinterpret the Italian fashion house’s signature Intrecciato weave using local materials and traditional techniques. ‘This collaboration opens a conversation about designers who work independently, shaping objects that bridge tradition, experimentation and the spirit of place,’ Bellavance-Lecompte says.
Placing the fair in Abu Dhabi, he notes, reflects the Middle East’s no longer peripheral role in the design world. ‘From the Gulf’s architectural ambition to the rise of independent studios, there is a growing consciousness of identity, sustainability and material culture in this area.’
Alongside the main displays, NOMAD will host talks, tours and culinary collaborations, reinforcing its focus on experience as much as display. ‘It’s about creating an ephemeral community that exists for a few days in a place charged with history and meaning, before it disperses again, like a journey completed.’
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