At NOMAD Abu Dhabi, Bottega Veneta is opening a dialogue about craftsmanship, identity, and the stories that shape us. With Destinations, the house celebrates 50 years of Intrecciato, the unmistakable leather weave that has become its visual and philosophical signature, by inviting eight creatives from across the region to reinterpret the motif for a new generation. The result: a cross-cultural conversation that feels as thoughtful as it is forward-looking, set inside one of the region’s most iconic modernist spaces.
For Bottega Veneta, Intrecciato isn’t simply a technique, it’s a worldview. First introduced in 1975, the hand-woven structure of slender leather strips, fettucce, brought strength through interconnection, giving Bottega Veneta a craft vocabulary that has endured for half a century. At Destinations, that legacy becomes a starting point rather than a conclusion.
Curated by Rana Beiruti, the exhibition brings together six artists and two creative studios whose practices span architecture, ceramics, textiles, sculpture, and contemporary design. Each creator engages with weaving as both an act and a metaphor, an intertwining of materials, histories, and cultures that speaks to Bottega Veneta’s own Venetian roots in cross-cultural exchange.
The participating talents, including Abdalla Almulla, Amine Asselman, Esna Su, Nader Gammas, Shaha Raphael, and Zein Daouk, alongside Sayar & Garibeh and architecture practice Bahraini – danish, reimagine weaving through their respective craft languages.
From ceramic sheets and volcanic stone to palm-frond braiding and Emirati Areesh, the works reveal how material traditions shape contemporary expression. Several pieces integrate reserve leather from Bottega Veneta’s atelier, grounding the exhibition in the house’s own atelier craftsmanship.
The variety of approaches reflects a shared spirit: weaving not just as a physical technique but as a conceptual framework. As Beiruti notes, the works move between heritage, experimentation, and the “interlacing of ideas, narratives, and cultures,” highlighting a dedication to regional craft communities and creativity born from tradition.
Housed in the historic Terminal 1 of Zayed International Airport, Destinations feels perfectly placed. NOMAD has long specialised in staging exhibitions within architecturally significant sites, and here the circular lounges and arched walkways offer a setting that mirrors the themes of movement and convergence embedded in Bottega Veneta’s identity.
Destinations functions as both aesthetic inspiration and cultural reflection. It nods to heritage without nostalgia, embraces experimentation without losing tactility, and shows how global luxury can meaningfully root itself in regional creative ecosystems.
Destinations is on view through 22 November.
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