Chesa Planta, St. Moritz, Villa La Vigie, Monaco, Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, Venice, Palais Bulles, Cannes, Certosa Di San Giacomo, Capri. And now, once again, St. Moritz. These are the destinations that have welcomed Nomad since 2017, when the two founders Giorgio Pace and Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte launched this special appointment for lovers of collectible design and contemporary art.
A new appointment awaits visitors from 23 to 26 February: four days in which the exhibition unfolds in a location that matches its spirit. The striking setting is the historic Grace La Margna hotel in St. Moritz., designed in 1906 by the architect Nicolaus Hartmann in perfect Art Nouveau style. The hotel is presently closed for renovations, and will reopen in the summer of 2023, so the rooms can become spacious galleries for new art forms, while the hall on the ground floor acts as a convivial gathering place, with a bar and a pop-up restaurant, also presenting talks and round table discussions.
The panel of encounters that accompanies the exhibits plays a central role in this edition of Nomad. It consists of the first Sustainable Design Summit in Engadin, in partnership with AD Italia, inviting creators from around the world to talk about sustainability and their contribution to the promotion of a more ecological vision of the future. The speakers include Cyrill Gutsch (CEO of Parley for the Oceans), Rossana Orlandi (director of Galleria Rossana Orlandi in Milan), Demet Müftüoğlu (curator, creative director and co-founder of ISTANBUL’74) and Francesca Neri Antonello (founder of FNA Concept).
The collaboration between Nomad and Gucci is also a novel development, giving rise to the curatorial project “Artists in Flux”: a platform in which art, design and architecture establish a dialogue on a global scale. The first chapter, coordinated with the opening of the event in St. Moritz, presents works by Lola Montes Schnabel (an American artist based in Sicily), Yves Scherer (a Swiss artist residing in New York) and Tsherin Sherpa (Nepalese, based in California and Kathmandu).
The core of the event, however, is still the array of artists and designers showing their works. Alongside galleries that are making a return appearance, we can also report some new entries: Galerie Gregor Staiger of Zurich, with a focus on feminist themes and figurative techniques; Elisabetta Cipriani from London, with projects of wearable art and art jewelry; Shåk Gallery from Brussels, founded by Marcela Sheridan and Bertil Åkkeson with the aim of creating a bridge between generations, traditions and genres, with works that mix Eastern and Western culture.
Mt. Refuge is a contemporary design studio with roots in Buddhist traditions, presenting the special project “Homage to Tibetan Rugs” with Tsherin Sherpa. Finally, Rolf Sachs will be on hand with the project “Alpine Suite,” inspired by the Engadin, its landscapes, customs and traditional furnishings, which Sachs observed while growing up in these places.
