Top 5 Galleries at NOMAD Abu Dhabi 2025: The Exhibitions That Made the Biggest Impact
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NOMAD Abu Dhabi unfolded inside one of the most unexpected and evocative locations imaginable: the old terminal of Abu Dhabi Airport, transformed into a dreamlike landscape by Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte and his team. The setting, a place suspended between movement and memory, became a perfect metaphor for the fair’s spirit, where design travelled across cultures, eras, and geographies. Amid this surreal, beautifully repurposed space, five galleries left an unmistakable imprint on us.
These galleries revealed a rare mastery in weaving Middle Eastern sensibilities with an unmistakably international flair. Their presentations moved fluidly between sand-washed neutrals and sunlit ochres, punctuated by jewel-toned accents that echoed regional opulence while remaining resolutely contemporary. Each vignette or (terminal) paid homage to the deep traditions of craftsmanship and material culture found across the Middle East, from weaving and carving to mineral, glass, and metal work, yet framed these histories within a global design language that felt elevated, current, and culturally attuned. It was this effortless blending of local resonance and international sophistication that made their impact so profound: moments where the desert’s quiet poetry met the rigour of world-class design, creating a dialogue that felt both rooted and boundary-expanding.
Giuseppe Rivadossi cabinet
Art Deco Poltrona chair1. GEM alf
Gem Alf made his NOMAD Abu Dhabi debut with a tightly curated selection that reflected his rare dual sensibility as designer and gallerist, balancing contemporary objects of material depth with historic pieces chosen for their emotional and sculptural clarity. His instinct for dialogue across eras was most evident in the Giuseppe Rivadossi cabinet, which quietly stole the show: a work that slips between worlds, carrying whispers of Oriental and East Asian sensibilities intertwined with Art Nouveau curves and Deco geometry. Alongside pieces by Luigi Brusotti and Ottoman side tables and cushions, Alf assembled a narrative that celebrates the poetry of craft, the resonance of heritage, and the renewed global fascination with collectible design, all sharpened through his unmistakably thoughtful curatorial eye. A triumph for the Middle Eastern eye.
Cristiano Pellizzari floor lamp
Cristiano Pellizzari chandelier and Gal Gaon sofa waterfall meditating2. NILUFAR
For NOMAD Abu Dhabi, Nilufar celebrated Christian Pellizzari’s singular brilliance with a staging that felt both opulent and instinctively at home in the Middle East. His jewel-toned Murano creations, luminous, fluid, almost alchemical, unfolded along one of the terminals like a symphony of colour and light, echoing the region’s relationship with glow and atmospheric richness. In Nilufar’s hands, Pellizzari’s work becomes a radiant dialogue between nature, emotion, and place, shimmering with a poetic ease that feels almost utterly native to the desert’s luminous horizons. The Gal Gaon sculpted Waterfall sofa, upholstered in a deep green mohair evoking sophistication, was quietly placed as a centre-piece with gravitas and an invitation to linger and stare at Christian’s jewel creations.
Francesco Maria Messina mirrors and lamps
Alex Turco resin table Soleille Gallery Ibiza, guided by the poetic eye of Franco-Mexican architect Gabriela Puig Soleill, created a space where light and material move in quiet dialogue. Her curatorial voice blurs architecture and art into moments of stillness and texture.
For its NOMAD Abu Dhabi 2025 debut, the gallery presented Desert Dialogue, a meditation on slowness and intentional craft. Alex Turco’s resin and mineral works formed in patient layers, while Francesco Maria Messina’s Plinio Lamp and the B 15A Mirror from the Glacies Collection conversed with the sculptural presence of the silver travertine floor lamps by Meshary Al Nassar. Together, they echoed shifting landscapes and luminous geology, creating an environment suspended between sun and sand - a contemporary mirage where design mirrors the quiet power of landscape.
Bottega Veneta Destinations - Amine Asselman Intreciatto Works
Bottega Veneta Destinations - Abdalla Almulla sofaBottega Veneta’s exhibition Destinations at NOMAD Abu Dhabi marked the fiftieth anniversary of the house’s iconic Intrecciato weave, bringing together eight creatives from across the Middle East and North Africa in a poetic exploration of weaving’s symbolism and craft. Curated by Rana Beiruti, the presentation gathered one-of-a-kind works by Abdalla Almulla, Amine Asselman, Esna Su, Nader Gammas, Shaha Raphael, Zein Daouk, the design studio Sayar & Garibeh, and the architectural office bahraini-danish. Using materials such as ceramic sheets, volcanic stone, palm-frond braiding, and Emirati Areesh, alongside three pieces incorporating reserve leather from the Bottega Veneta atelier, the exhibition reflected the region’s deep weaving traditions while entering into dialogue with Intrecciato as both craft and philosophy.
Jorge Zalszupin coffee table and bench, Geraldo de Barros daybed
Moveis Cimo sofa and chairs, Scarlett Rouge rug, Wendell Castle chair and low table (black)5. The A/p Room
The A/P Room made its curatorial debut ahead of its official launch in early 2026, introducing itself as the first collectible-design gallery in the Dubai market. Led by industry expert Christelle Bassila and operating under Atelio (the design vertical of Vivium, founded by Elie Khouri), the gallery entered the region with a distinct curatorial voice dedicated to the evolving language of collectible design. Conceived as a cultural conduit, the A/P Room positioned design as a living dialogue, connecting continents, disciplines, and generations. It brought leading international designers into the Middle East while elevating regional talent onto the global stage and became the first gallery in the region to unite historic and contemporary collectible design within one curatorial space, where global icons and emerging voices met in thoughtful conversation.
Hamrei armchairs, Aline Hazarian coffee table, console and floor lamp, Rogan Gregory mirrorTogether, these galleries traced the emotional and material landscape of NOMAD Abu Dhabi with extraordinary clarity. Soleille Gallery offered a quiet, contemplative poetry shaped through light and mineral presence; Gem Alf revealed the power of dialogue across eras, letting historic craftsmanship speak with contemporary confidence; The A/P Room signalled a new curatorial era for Dubai, bridging continents and creative genealogies; Nilufar, with Cristiano Pellizzari’s jewel-toned Murano works, brought a radiant choreography of colour and light that felt instinctively at home in the Middle Eastern environment; while Bottega Veneta honoured the region’s weaving traditions with an exhibition that transformed technique into philosophy.
What united them was an elegant fusion of Middle Eastern sensibility and international sophistication, a palette where sand-washed neutrals met sunlit golds, mineral greens, and jewel hues; where centuries-old craft encountered contemporary design intelligence; where regional heritage was elevated onto a global stage without losing its quiet soul. In the surreal setting of the old Abu Dhabi airport terminal, transformed into a sanctuary for ideas in motion, these presentations reminded us that collectible design is at its most powerful when it becomes a cultural meeting point.
NOMAD Abu Dhabi did more than showcase objects; it revealed a new design geography shaped by dialogue, reverence, and imagination. And these galleries, each in their own voice, defined that geography with rare beauty.
Photography Credits: NIKITA BEREZHNOY
COVER IMAGE: ABU DHABI TERMINAL 1
