NOMAD’s Abu Dhabi edition unfolded inside the former Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport, a building once defined by constant movement. Stripped of its original function, the space became a setting for reflection, on travel, on exchange, and on how design carries meaning across geographies. Rather than staging a conventional fair, NOMAD allowed architecture, material, and rhythm to guide the experience.Moving through the terminal, presentations felt deliberately paced. Historic and contemporary practices were placed in conversation without hierarchy. At Nilufar, Gio Ponti’s legacy sat alongside contemporary studios, reinforcing the gallery’s long-standing ability to collapse time through form. Nearby, Mondavilli Scagliola traced a similar dialogue, pairing Italian twentieth-century design with emerging voices whose work foregrounded material continuity rather than trend.
Craft emerged as a central language. Gallery FUMI’s selection of tactile works in textiles, ceramics, and lighting emphasized process and the maker’s hand, while Galerie BSL explored geometry and stone through sculptural pieces that hovered between art and function. From Cairo, Don Tanani presented works entirely produced in its atelier, offering a quiet but confident vision of contemporary Egyptian design rooted in material heritage.
The fair’s international scope was matched by its regional grounding. Le LAB’s presentation of Khaled Zaki’s Noah’s Arcreimagined the dining table as a sculptural site of coexistence, while Gem Alf curated a measured exchange between historic craftsmanship and contemporary design sensibilities. At We Gallery, Brazilian modernist references brought a different architectural rhythm into the terminal, expanding the conversation beyond the region without diluting its focus.
Large-scale projects reshaped the airport’s former purpose. DEPARTURES, powered by Etihad Airways, transformed the terminal into a platform for expansive artistic gestures, including works by Orkhan Mammadov and Zeinab Al Hashemi that reflected on movement, identity, and future destinations. In a more intimate register, Destinations by Bottega Veneta gathered eight designers, including Abdalla Almulla, Shaha Raphael, and Zein Daouk, to explore weaving as philosophy rather than technique, marking 50 years of Intrecciato without centering leather itself. Elsewhere, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council’s collaboration with Ricardo Rendón bridged Emirati and Mexican craft traditions, while Formafantasma’s Cohabitare for Perrier-Jouët introduced an ecological meditation on coexistence, adapted from vineyard to desert context. By the time visitors exited the terminal, NOMAD Abu Dhabi felt less like a fair and more like a pause, an invitation to consider how objects, materials, and ideas move through the world, and what they carry with them when they arrive.
What Caught Our Attention
Mida, Orient 499 x David/Nicolas
Rooted in the language of the majlis, Mida stood out for its quiet confidence. The collaborative collection translated hospitality into form through refined woodwork and copper inlays, balancing contemporary design with Levantine craft traditions. A meditation on togetherness without nostalgia.
Destinations, Bottega Veneta
Rather than centering leather, Destinations reframed Intrecciato as a philosophy. Works by Abdalla Almulla, Amine Asselman, Esna Su, Nader Gammas, Shaha Raphael, Zein Daouk, Sayar & Garibeh, and bahraini —danish explored weaving as structure, memory, and exchange across the Middle East and North Africa.
Turning Time into Stone, Parsa
Parsa’s installation treated stone as both archive and medium. Rare Iranian stones were shaped into minimalist furniture and sculptural forms, emphasizing tactility, patience, and the quiet tension between ancient material and contemporary design language.
Fluid Echoes, Super Loop
Drawing from Middle Eastern floral and arboreal motifs, Fluid Echoes translated movement into hand-carved wood, mother-of-pearl, gradient glass, and steel. Flowing silhouettes and warped reflections evoked transformation rather than ornament.
Galerie BSL: Gandhara Carapace
Nada Debs and Studio Lél’s Gandhara Carapace, shown alongside Pia Maria Raeder’s sculptural works, foregrounded material sensuality. Wood, resin, and stone were treated with restraint, allowing craftsmanship and surface to lead the narrative.
Tilad Collection, Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council x Ricardo Rendón
A compelling cross-cultural dialogue merging Emirati Talli and Safafah with Mexican material expression. The collection balanced bold color and texture with deep respect for artisanal processes, positioning heritage as a living, evolving practice.
The AP Room
Making its presence felt through emotional restraint, The AP Room presented works by Aline Hazarian and Roham Shamekh. Sculptural and introspective, the selection explored memory, fragility, and the poetic potential of functional design.
