NOMAD, one of the first boutique art and design fairs to create an identity around travelers, site-specific presentations, launched in 2017 in Monte Carlo before expanding to other luxury destinations, including St. Moritz, Capri and Abu Dhabi. Now the play is making its US debut in the Hamptons at The Watermill Center, an experimental art center founded by Robert Wilson. Since its inception, it has set itself apart from mainstream shows, anticipating the specific, location-specific approaches we now see in shows like Esther and Neighbors.
The first edition of the exhibition in the Hamptons will include site-responsive presentations including sculptural furniture, modern and contemporary art, fine jewelry and one-of-a-kind objects brought by a series of galleries including The Future Perfect (New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco), Todd Merrill Studio (New York), Todd Merrill Studio (New York), Tristan (London), Tristan (London), Tristan York), Leila Heller Gallery (Dubai, New York), J. Lohmann Gallery (New York), Jeff Lincoln Art + Design (Southampton) and Robilant (London, Milan), among others.
Looking at the destinations selected by NOMAD, each one has a unique character and a rich international audience. However, the director of this exhibition, Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte, tells the Observer that wealth alone is never enough of a painting. “What attracts us are places with a strong cultural identity, unique architectural character, and a history of attracting creative minds,” he explains. St. Moritz, for example, has long been a meeting place for collectors, artists and intellectuals. Capri represents a century of artistic and literary research. Abu Dhabi is one of the most ambitious cultural projects being developed anywhere in the world today. And he sees the Hamptons as a natural fit for that constellation. “It’s not just a place of luxury. It’s been a place of retreat and inspiration for generations of artists, architects, writers and collectors.”
EC As the Observer reported down in November, the atmosphere was completely themed and surprisingly appropriate: guests entered with pass-style cards handed out at the check-in counter before wandering through the renovated terminals filled with curated presentations paired with lounge-style restaurants.
“Every NOMAD program starts with listening to the place,” Bellavance-Lecompte offers when asked what to expect from the fair’s upcoming edition. In Abu Dhabi, he adds, that meant engaging deeply with cultural and spatial change as a means of dialogue between local and international perspectives. In the Hamptons, the first stop will be the Watermill Center itself. “Robert Wilson has created a space unlike any other, where theater, visual art, architecture, performance, and exploration converge; that spirit feels remarkably aligned with NOMAD.”
The Hamptons is a region with a rich artistic history, with era-defining artists including Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner and Willem de Kooning maintaining studios there. “We are entering into a conversation with the history of this institution and the creative community that has developed through it for decades,” said Bellavance-Lecompte. Many of this year’s special projects engage directly with the Hamptons’ artistic heritage, including presentations connected to Robert Wilson’s personal collection and archive.
He hopes that the NOMAD program in the United States will become a long-term pillar of the exhibition’s annual calendar, explaining that “the response from galleries, collectors, and institutions has exceeded our expectations. The United States has always been one of the most important markets for collectible design, and yet there has never been a platform like NOMAD operating here.” The Hamptons offer a unique combination of cultural sophistication, architectural quality and a concentration of collectors that is difficult to duplicate elsewhere. “Our aim is not just to do one event but to establish a long-term presence with meaning.”
With its mix of contemporary craftsmanship and collectible design, NOMAD has built a reputation for pairing great displacement with great design. When asked to describe the galleries that fit its platform, Bellavance-Lecompte replies that the strongest participants are those with a clear vision. “The most successful exhibitors at NOMAD aren’t necessarily the big galleries. They’re the ones who understand storytelling, curation, and the importance of context. We look for galleries that can create dialogue between historical and contemporary works, between disciplines and between cultures.”
He admits that NOMAD’s audience has appeared in 15 shows placed in many places: “Today it includes major international collectors, museum directors, architects, designers, cultural enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and, increasingly, a new generation of collectors who travel slowly between art, design, fashion and hospitality.” The cultural differences between these worlds are disappearing, and “NOMAD reflects that fact.”
Exhibitions today are increasingly competing for the attention of galleries, collectors and institutions alike, but Bellavance-Lecompte does not see NOMAD as in competition. “Collectors still need big market events, and those platforms play an important role. What we offer is something different,” he argues. For him, NOMAD sits somewhere between an exhibition, a cultural gathering and a hospitality experience. “It’s a place where conversations happen naturally, where collectors spend meaningful time with galleries, and where acquisitions happen in an environment that feels intimate rather than transactional.” The goal, he adds, “is not to increase footfall but to increase the quality of engagement. In other words, NOMAD is less concerned with competition than with creating a completely different artistic model. “We are creating a temporary cultural system where design, art, architecture, food, travel, and human interaction all become part of the same experience.”
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