Boutique art and design fair Nomad launching new summer destination

The Swiss Alps have long been a place where the art world meets. The Engadin Valley alone has inspired many artists and writers. With collectors regularly spending their winter holidays in the mountains, more and more art dealers have opened spaces there: In December 2018 Hauser & Wirth debuted in St. Moritz, Grazyla Kulczyk built a museum in Susch and, just a few days ago, Gagosian opened a new gallery in Gstaad.

And with glam new spaces comes glam events. The annual Engadin Art Talks took place in January, and next Tuesday the boutique fair Nomad will get underway in St. Moritz through March 6 . Nomad was founded in 2017 by Giorgio Pace and Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte with the aim to be more exclusive and flexible than other fairs. While St. Moritz has hosted it on several occasions, Nomad, true to its name, has no fixed home, and over the past five years has also been held in Monaco, Cannes, and Venice. Despite that, the St. Moritz tourism office has labeled Nomad as a “diamond event” along with its Snow Polo World Cup, White Turf, and Festival da Jazz events.

So where will Nomad end up next?

Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte tells Swizz Art Biz host Tanya König that this year’s inaugural summer destination will be—drum roll, please—Capri. Talk about glam! But fear not Alpine enthusiasts, he says that the fair will return to the Swiss mountains next winter.

Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte also tells Tanya how the committee picks their exhibitors, why they need to communicate their choices diplomatically, and why the noted Swiss critic and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist called Nomad the future of fairs. Listen to the conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.