During Ramadan, space acquires a different tempo. It slows. It listens. It gathers.
At her newly opened boutique in Alserkal Avenue, Nada Debs invites this quieter rhythm through Ochaya Majlis, a month-long installation created in dialogue with the London-based house of hand-painted wallpapers, de Gournay. Inaugurated with a private Suhoor and on view until March 29, the project unfolds as both teahouse and majlis — a structure of hospitality that bridges geographies without collapsing their distinctions.
The installation takes the form of an elevated wooden pavilion. Shoji-like sliding screens temper light and movement; tatami flooring grounds the body. Inside, de Gournay’s hand-painted gold Portobello chinoiserie wallpaper glows with a restrained opulence, while the exterior is wrapped in wool sateen embroidered with plum blossom motifs. The dialogue is not decorative but tectonic: surface, structure, and ritual coalesce.
Debs’ signature diamond hand-carving pattern articulates the generous majlis seating, accompanied by mother-of-pearl zigzag tables and bespoke pebble seats developed in collaboration with de Gournay. The result is immersive yet intimate — an environment where Far Eastern and Middle Eastern references do not compete, but resonate. This is less East-meets-West than East-and-East: a subtle acknowledgement of parallel histories shaped by the Silk Route and sustained cultural exchange.
For Debs, who was raised in Japan and continues to maintain a deep connection to its craftsmanship traditions, the installation extends a long-standing exploration of duality — where cultures and mediums intersect to form new global conversations. For de Gournay, whose practice is rooted in artisanal techniques passed down through generations, the collaboration becomes a meditation on the handmade as the ultimate expression of luxury.
Presented during a month defined by reflection and gathering, Ochaya Majlis reframes the pop-up as something more enduring: a spatial thesis on craft, memory, and the architecture of exchange.
