Destinations, Bottega Veneta’s new exhibition, enters almost on tiptoe. It isn’t a show that raises its voice; instead, it invites you to slow down, to follow with your eyes the crossing lines, the brushing materials, and—fittingly—the stories woven together like threads. At NOMAD Abu Dhabi, Bottega Veneta pays tribute to one of the Maison’s icons, the Intrecciato—a journey into the true meaning of creation itself: gestures of encounter, unity that brings strength. Fifty years after the birth of the celebrated leather-working technique, the weave that made the Venetian house unmistakable becomes the starting point for eight creatives from the Middle East and North Africa. Each arrives with their own cultural heritage, their own tactile memory. Curated by Rana Beiruti, the exhibition forms a constellation in which every work has its own voice, yet all converse by following the same guiding thread.
The journey moves from ceramic surfaces and volcanic stones to structures inspired by Emirati Areesh—palm-leaf weavings rooted in an ancient way of creating shade and shelter from the blazing sun. Some works even incorporate leather offcuts sourced directly from the Bottega Veneta atelier, as if the Maison were lending a piece of its own soul to be reinterpreted anew. The hands of the exhibiting artists shape these elements with both reverence and freedom, revealing that the Intrecciato is at once a technique and a concept.
In this sensory journey, you encounter the rigorous geometries of Abdalla Almulla, who turns architectural research into a rhythm to be traced with the eyes; the mathematical yet poetic forms of Amine Asselman, where ceramics become a landscape of the mind; and the intimate narratives woven into Esna Su’s textiles, which seem to breathe memory and fragility. Among the other artists, Nader Gammas’s luminous creations do more than illuminate—they reveal, they accompany. The duo Sayar & Garibeh bring a playful lightness, capable of sparking a smile without sacrificing depth, while Shaha Raphael treats matter as if it were a living organism, an autonomous presence that demands care and attention. And finally, there is the dreamlike universe of Zein Daouk, where ceramics, handled as an organic element, transform into creatures—bridges between memory and metamorphosis.
“The commissioned works reflect a wide variety of interpretations that honor the Intrecciato weave, while also carrying gestures from the designers’ own personal styles.”
The exhibition—like Venice, the city to which Bottega Veneta is inextricably linked—is a place of passage, of exchange and cross-pollination. Here, local traditions are reshuffled and set in motion, much like in the history of the former Queen of the Adriatic, guardian of centuries of encounters and alliances. Destinations does not emphasize a final endpoint; instead, it invites you to follow a path. It is a hymn to movement, to letting oneself be shaped by different cultures, just as the threads of the Intrecciato do. Walking among the works, you sense that each piece is a way of fostering relationships: between past and present, between artisans and artists, between the Maison and the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern roots that have always nourished it. The result is a collective weave that leads toward new routes. The best advice is not to rush through Destinations: it is an exhibition meant to be listened to and touched, like a precious fabric.
