For anyone who has travelled through the old Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport, Nomad Abu Dhabi will be a sentimental, even surreal experience.
The event has repurposed the decommissioned terminal to become a sprawling art and design venue. Institutions and galleries from across the world have congregated under its tent-like roof, displaying artworks around the idiosyncratic, green-tiled pillar. Departure gates have become exhibition spaces, showcasing a mix of vintage and cutting-edge furniture pieces.
An alternative to traditional art fairs, Nomad was established in 2017 by Canadian-Italian architect Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte as a travelling showcase for contemporary art, collectable design and cultural exchange. It is renowned for selecting unique and often historically important locations, from a 15th-century gothic structure in Venice to a monastery in Capri.
Terminal 1 has a significant place in Abu Dhabi’s history. The structure opened in 1982. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, who was also responsible for Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris and Terminal 3 at Dubai.
The Abu Dhabi terminal was decommissioned in late 2023, after the opening of Zayed International Airport's Terminal A. For many, it marked the end of an era.
Nomad Abu Dhabi leans into the former function of its venue. Visiting the event is akin to the sensation of entering an airport. Visitors are given a boarding pass and walk through checking booths before entering the main exhibition hall.
“I did a wide exploration of the region before choosing Abu Dhabi,” Bellavance-Lecompte says. “We visited 30 different sites that were part of modern heritage. It was important to find the right container that was not just a box. It had to be something significant in terms of architecture and generate a dialogue. I’m very grateful that we managed to find this venue thanks to the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
“The airport is special and, emotionally speaking, I also used to travel through here. This airport had been operating for over 40 years, and for everyone from the region and from the city to see this reappropriation of the airport is a great way to give life back to this building.”
When developing Nomad Abu Dhabi, Bellavance-Lecompte says he was keen on having a balanced representation between regional and global participants. “I’m happy to have almost 40 per cent regional projects,” he says. “We also involved many regional designers and artists in the departure lounge.”
The departure lounge is the first space visitors will interact with. The exhibition, developed in collaboration with Etihad Airways, features several works that resonate with the event’s aviation theme.
Lebanese artist Ali Cha’aban presents 12 PM Class, a 2019 work that comprises Persian carpets that have been folded like monumental paper planes. Christopher Joshua Benton, a US artist living in the UAE, is showcasing How to Be at Rest, a collaborative piece with bricolage chairs that have been modified by working-class South Asian and African labourers and artisans.
Emirati artist Zeinab Al Hashemi’s There May Exist features staked oil barrels that have each been covered in camel hide, touching upon how the dromedary were a staple of livelihood in the region before the oil boom.
Nearly two dozen galleries and institutions are set up in the main hall. Local participants include The Third Line, AP Room, Leila Heller Gallery, Nika Project Space and We Gallery. However, there is also a significant international footprint, with galleries from Cairo, Ibiza, Athens, Milan, Istanbul, Paris, Tunis and Florence taking part.
For some participants, Nomad Abu Dhabi is a platform to offer a glimpse into future ambitions. AP Room, for instance, is a space for collectable design that is due to open in Dubai in early 2026. Its presentation at Nomad Abu Dhabi is a sneak peek of the types of designs on offer. The corridor features chairs by celebrated modern designers such as Philippe Starck, while the main hall features arresting contemporary furniture that is sculptural, even arboreal in nature.
Chairs, particularly, are everywhere and no two are alike.
“For designers, the chair is very important because it’s like making architecture to a human scale, and we wanted to highlight that,” says Amine Amharech, artistic and commercial director of AP Room. “We also wanted to bring elite designs from all over the world to the UAE. The future is that we will bring Emirati elite designs to the world.”
Jewellery is also on display, and while some booths are embracing the airport aesthetic, others aim to stand out. From Bahrain, A2Z Advisory has transformed one of the departure gates into a plush red salon, displaying coveted vintage pieces from Cartier alongside works by celebrated contemporary designers such as Mumbai's Bhagat Jewellers.
“We do pop-up shows around the world, but mainly the Middle East,” Salomon Amin, a designer who is affiliated with the advisory, says. “Our proposal is not only jewellery, but also to offer an experience to the user. You can feel this area is completely different than the rest, and that is the intention. Every single show has a unique selection.”
Some of the fair’s strongest highlights are the Special Projects, peppered between the gallery presentations. Iwan Maktabi, for instance, is showcasing When Earth Dreamt in Gold, a solo exhibition by Hechizoo, the high-end textile atelier from Colombia.
Design collective Super Loop will present Fluid Echoes, a collection that blends regional traditions of mother-of-pearl inlay and hand-carved wood within contemporary furniture pieces.
Irthi Contemporary Crafts Council – an organisation that works with female artisans from the UAE and the wider Middle East, North Africa, South and South-east Asia regions – is unveiling the Tilad Collection, a decorative furniture piece developed in collaboration with Mexican artist Ricardo Rendon.
“We blended the Emirati handicrafts of safeefah and talli with the crafts as well as the pine wood from Mexico,” says Amal Ismail, who works in the community skills development department at the council. “The woven threads are all produced by women artisans. The towers can be stacked in several ways.”
This year’s Nomad showcase is only the beginning for the event in the UAE capital. Bellavance-Lecompte says the fair will return to the defunct terminal over the next four years, gradually expanding but mindful to keep true to Nomad’s original vision.
“We put everything together in quite a short time frame for this first edition,” Bellavance-Lecompte says. “But we have an open canvas with such a great building, and can devise so many incredible commissions, performances and installations to be in dialogue with the terminal.”
