NOMAD St. Moritz 2021

Chesa Planta
COURTESY: NOMAD St. Moritz / PHOTOGRAPH: © Andrea Badrutt

Nestled below the spectacular mountains of Muottas Muragle lies the pretty alpine town of Samedan in the high alpine valley of Engadin. Chesa Planta, a 16^th century artistocratic house, lies at the heart of this Swiss town, near St. Moritz. It is here that NOMAD, the travelling showcase for collectible design, will open for four days in early July.

I.S.A., ‘Bench’, circa 1955
COURTESY: Galleria Rossella Colombari

The concept of NOMAD was dreamt up by Giorgio Pace and Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte to bring collectible design out of soulless convention centres and into exquisite architectural locations. The first iteration was at Villa La Vigie in Monaco, an imposing cliff-top mansion, previously home to Karl Lagerfeld. Since then, the NOMAD circle has expanded to include Venice, Cannes and St. Moritz. This is NOMAD’s fourth visit to Chesa Planta, a congenial setting for exploring the dialogue between design, art and architecture. For 2021, there is work on display from twenty galleries, across media and genres, including the NOMAD YESMAD exhibition, curated by New York based artist, collector, curator, writer, lecturer and dealer Kenny Schachter, in collaboration with a selection of galleries who have spaces in the Engadin Valley.

Marcin Rusak , ‘N6’ light from the Protoplasting Nature series, 2021
COURTESY: Carwan Gallery

One newcomer to NOMAD is Yali Glass, a Venetian design studio founded in 2008 by Marie-Rose Kahane, which has been experimenting with a technique of casting glass. By working with master glassworkers, Kahane has produced the moulded glass tops for the ‘Isola’ series, which come in subtle tones, ranging from grey to transparent green. The table forms evoke the basins of water of the Venetian lagoon, but also the thick slabs of ice of the Engadine, another place close to Kahane’s heart.

Marie Rose Kahane for Yali Glass, ‘Isola Side Tables’, 2020
COURTESY: Yali Glass / PHOTOGRAPH: © Enrico Fiorese

From Lebanon, meanwhile, comes Hala Matta’s raku ‘Playtime Totems’, some in lively zesty yellow, which balance whimsically on top of each other. These engaging, tactile pieces are a collaboration with Iwan Maktabi, a leading Beirut-based carpet gallery, which brings a collective project to NOMAD, featuring three Lebanese women designers.

Hala Matta for Iwan Maktabi, ‘Raku totems’, 2021
COURTESY: Iwan Maktabi

Mercado Moderno, from Rio de Janeiro, a NOMAD stalwart, is showing Inês Schertel, a designer working in wool. Schertel, initially trained as an architect, lives in southern Brazil on the grassy steppes of São Francisco de Paula, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. There she champions what she calls ‘slow design’, imaginatively felting the wool from her husband’s herd of sheep and producing a range of sculptural objects – from vases to acoustic panels and stools.

Inês Schertel, ‘Porva’, 2021
COURTESY: Mercado Moderno

Perhaps the most intriguing Special Project is CHRISTO. WRAPPED FURNITURE AND OBJECTS:1961-1963. ‘L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped’ was Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s lifelong dream. This September, the city of Paris will realise this project and honour the work of the celebrated couple, who transformed the physical world through wild imagination and meticulous preparation. Christo and Jeanne-Claude always refused grants, scholarships, donations or public money, relying solely on the sale of their own artwork to fund their projects. Following this tradition, Zuecca Projects, a nonprofit cultural organisation, and curator Christopher Taylor, are bringing an -exhibition of early wrapped furniture by Christo and Jeanne-Claude to NOMAD. All the proceeds of the sales will contribute towards the herculean task of wrapping the famous Parisian arch in 25,000 m² of silvery-blue fabric, and 3,000 metres of red rope.

Christo, ‘Two Wrapped Chairs’, 1961
COURTESY: Zuecca Projects & Christopher Taylor / PHOTOGRAPH: © Wolfgang Volz / Estate of Christo V. Javacheff

This year, for the first time, NOMAD has joined forces with Christie’s. This will allow an enriched digital and physical experience, opening access to the best of the showcase to a wider audience of collectors, interior designers, architects and art and design professionals. The digital event will extend for another week, after the exhibition at Chesa Planta closes. A physical event at Christie’s London is also planned.

Alessandro Mendini, ‘Luna & Sole’, 2018
COURTESY: Galleria Luisa Delle Piane