On entering Omar Nakkash’s library, you know this is a place that he cherishes the most at home. A wide selection of books, vinyl records, art and design objets (including an eye-catching Man Ray chess set from MOMA New York and a trinity lamp he debuted at Beirut Design Fair 2018), as well as a Honeycomb hi-fi turntable, his father’s vintage camera, family photos and an iconic Eames lounge chair and ottoman form the space.
Nakkash’s library give you an insight into his interests: besides an envious selection of design books, he highlights a book called ‘Sidewalk’, which analyses urban life in New York city, as well as a signed copy of Gregory David Robert’s Shantaram. A painting rises above his vinyl collection, one that he picked up in Vietnam. Nakkash’s interest in art was piqued as a young child. “My first art piece was a gift from the artist Joan-Carles Roca Sans, who is based in Costa Brava, Spain. I met him while vacationing with my parents in Spain. He took us behind the scenes at his atelier in the back of the gallery and walked me through his process. We discussed colour theory and explained forms and lines and so on. At the end of that afternoon, he gifted me a small piece, which was my first art piece.” Another favourite is a piece by Abdel Rahman Katanani, a Palestinian artist whose work captures the everyday life and realities of Palestinian refugees, reflecting a deep and poignant narrative that takes pride of place in Nakkash’s living room amongst some truly beautiful design pieces – including a table he designed himself, a Kenneth Cobonpue dining table and GUBI Beetle dining chairs.
Nakkash doesn’t view art as an investment, saying: “For me, it’s not an asset class. Art is a necessity in the world. I look at it as an emotional reaction to what we’re seeing and obviously the content, you know – but more it’s like, how does this piece make me feel? What am I looking at? Are they happy colours. or [what is] the scale of it? That’s how I see it.”
His collection of vinyl records is enviable, and he has an eclectic taste in music. “I treasure my collection of old records, which began with my mom’s vinyl collection from her college days and has grown with additions I’ve made during my travels,” he says. Nakkash cites French Kiwi Juice (FKJ) as a current favourite. “I also love the classics… Italian music. And I love Al Green.”
Born and raised in Sharjah in the early 1990s, Nakkash completed his Bachelor’s in Design and Management from Parsons the New School for Design in New York. “Moving from Sharjah to New York was an eye-opening experience. I always say that Parsons was a great education, but the learning in New York City teaches you a lot. It teaches you to be tough, entrepreneurial… and to have grit. The city offers you everything from music and F&B to art and design and culture… you name it. It was an amazing experience, and it has a lot to do with the person that I am today.” After his stint in New York, Nakkash moved to Lebanon and then studied a Master’s in Interior Design from the Scuola politecnica di design in Milan, Italy. “I couldn’t go from New York to Sharjah again. I worked there for a year and then I decided again to go to Italy. I tried to postpone the time between New York and moving back here. Once you move back to the UAE, you’re not going to move back anywhere else… it’s a one-way ticket. I knew that this is what I wanted to do. And given the family business and so on, I knew that my future was here.”
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