{"id":262868,"date":"2025-08-20T11:56:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T15:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_news&p=262868"},"modified":"2025-08-20T11:56:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T15:56:25","slug":"10-questions-with-omar-chakil","status":"publish","type":"id_news","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/designwire\/10-questions-with-omar-chakil\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Questions With\u2026 Omar Chakil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From Over The Counter Beirut 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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August 20, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Robert McKelvey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Courtesy of Omar Chakil<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

10 Questions With\u2026 Omar Chakil<\/h1>\n\n\n
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Designer Omar Chakil<\/a> has been working with Egyptian alabaster onyx for almost a decade, reviving this luminous, historic, but often overlooked stone. He brings it into contemporary design spaces through his experiments with limited edition objects and furniture. Describing himself as a “self-taught natural aesthete,” Chakil seeks to act as a bridge between cultures in his practice and elevate the heritage alabaster crafts of his native Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French Egyptian Lebanese artist is known for bringing the concept of collectible design to Egypt. His pieces have been featured in exhibitions around the globe, including Dubai Expo 2020, MENART Fair in Brussels, Le Salon in New York, Nomad in St Moritz and Venice, and Carwan in Athens, and solo shows in Cairo and\u2013most recently\u2013Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, Chakil speaks to Interior Design<\/em> about his unexpected path into the world of design, his fondness for indigenous materials and craft, the thrill of finding novel solutions to circumvent limitations, and how to bring people together by embracing what makes us unique.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Omar Chakil.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Omar Chakil Reimagines Egyptian Alabaster For A Modern Era<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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From Over The Counter Beirut 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interior Design: Can you tell us about your beginnings in design? How did you get started?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Omar Chakil: My mother was an architect, so that was my first contact with the concept of design\u2014but I was really more interested in telling stories. I’ve been singing since I was a child. When I signed my first record deal, the first thing I did was redesign my small studio in Paris because it was going to be photographed. From there, I started getting gigs as a “decorator.” I don’t really like that word, but that’s what it was. I didn’t have any education in design. It was almost like having parallel jobs between interior design, singing, and songwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I grew up in France, but (at the time) I wasn’t a French citizen, so I was touring the country without a proper visa. Because I had success, I didn’t pay attention to these things. And then, all of a sudden, I was forced back to Egypt, and I wasn’t allowed to return to France for a couple of years. I had to put my singing career on hold. That\u2019s when I started to really focus on product design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID: What drew you to Egyptian alabaster as a medium?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: When I returned to Egypt, I wanted to see if I could make something unique that would transform the experience of having to come back\u2014which I wasn’t very happy about at the time. I started researching traditional Egyptian crafts: the tent-makers, the brass, mosaics, silver. I experimented with a lot of different crafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only one that I didn’t approach was alabaster because I didn’t like it. Whenever I saw it in the local markets, I was always a bit turned off by the appearance of the objects, and I didn’t like the color. But a very good friend of mine, who was like a history geek, told me: \u201cYou’re making a big mistake! This is one of the mediums that is endemic to Egypt. The pharaohs used it. You’re just seeing it under the wrong light.\u201d The ancient Egyptians created so many artifacts with this very special stone. Because of its translucence, they believed it was a gateway to the afterlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tendre Marguerite at Le LAB.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ID: What is your creative process and thought process behind your work?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: I start with inspiration, and then I try to think of what I can create. I do my research. A lot of people think I don’t design that many pieces because I\u2019m not producing three collections every year, but what they don’t understand is that I give a lot of importance to each piece. It’s not a retail approach. My pieces are not industrially made, and they are heavy! I like the idea that the people who buy them will have them in their lives, and their children\u2019s lives, and their grandchildren’s lives. It’s not something that you can throw away easily, and I think it forces people to have a greater consciousness of the object and, hopefully, the story behind it and the value of the work that went into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID: Can you tell us a bit about the qualities of alabaster and what it’s like working with it?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: I’ve been working with alabaster now for seven or eight years, but I’m still discovering new things. Alabaster certainly has its limitations. It’s not as versatile as other marbles. It’s a hard stone, but it scratches easily, and it has very different veining depending on whether you’re using the center or the outside part of the stone. And while there are a lot of alabaster quarries in Egypt, they are mainly in Upper Egypt, which restricts accessibility. In order to transport the large pieces that I like to use, to be able to choose the color, the cuts, and the quality, and to make the large pieces I’m showing, I\u2019ve had to build my own network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SOBEK Bench.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ID: How does that impact what you create?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: I have to adapt to the limits that circumstance imposes. If you’re an incredible craftsman, and you can also come up with incredible ideas that you can execute yourself, that\u2019s the jackpot, but I think that’s very rare. We\u2019re used to being told to do things ourselves, with our own hands, but I don’t care that something is handmade if it looks like crap in the end. We have so many incredible craftsmen\u2014and women\u2014and we need them. They’re essential. When I come to the shape that I want, I see if it’s executable using alabaster; most times, it’s not. I’m fascinated by things like A.I. and the idea of just having an idea, putting it through a computer, and seeing what comes out, but I\u2019m happy to focus on what I think my talents are, and work with other talented people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID: You are often cited as a major influence in bringing collectible design to Egypt; was that intentional?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: Thank you for saying that, but I didn’t do it so consciously. I went in with the intention of creating collectible, high-end design made in Egypt with a local material that could be sold outside of Egypt. When I showed my first collection, in 2017 [at the Beirut Art Fair], I remember a lot of people coming in and asking if it was Egyptian alabaster because they couldn’t believe that it was the same material. I think they appreciated what we were trying to do, which was to bring something traditional into a different sphere of creativity and craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always think of the French or the Italians because I know that they became what they became because their work and their craft traveled the world. That’s why I have a complex about doing things in Egypt. I love Egypt, but I think\u2014when you gain recognition from the outside\u2014it has more impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Canopic Jars Colorama.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ID: Can you tell us a little about what you’re working on now?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: The new stuff that I’m doing now is the first time that I’m consciously trying to reinterpret ancient Egyptian iconography, such as the canopic jar. Originally, they used these objects to preserve organs removed in the mummification process. They preserve the viscera so that they can be used in the afterlife. So, my thought was: \u201cWhat can I preserve? What would I want to preserve from the current life that I can take with me into the afterlife?\u201d For me, that would be the hopes and wishes and dreams that we weren’t able to fulfill in this life. I love the idea of putting an intention in one of those containers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID: And what about your latest exhibition at PAD Paris 2025, with Galerie Gastou?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: One of the things that I always try to focus on is how I can tell the story of Egypt to an outside audience. I feel the creative resonance of the Middle East, but I never had a proper gallery. When I met Victor Gastou in New York, I liked his approach to my work. He understood what I was trying to do, and he wanted to do something with me for Galerie Gastou in Paris. We started meeting, trying to see how I could take what I had done before and push it a little bit further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Egyptology has made a very strong impression on French culture. Napoleon uncovered a lot of ancient Egyptian history. And so Victor told me: \u201cI want you to use your language and your research to do a few pieces, using clear references to ancient Egypt.\u201d And we started experimenting with these votive creatures. The ones we chose to show at PAD Paris 2025 are the ones that are the most emblematic, but they are not just a combination of contemporary shapes with symbols from ancient Egypt; they are also the first time that I’m using different kinds of marble in my works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Resurrection Coffee Table at Galerie Gastou.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ID: Can you describe one of these pieces?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: In the “Resurrection Table”\u2014which is the scarab-shaped table\u2014I used these three different stones: Egyptian alabaster, Italian bianco, and Iranian onyx. I think that everybody in the world has a relationship to one of these foundational civilizations, so the fact that we brought stones from these three into the scarab\u2014a symbol of resurrection and rebirth\u2014has a nice resonance. The inscription on the table reads: \u201cLike the scarab, guide me towards the light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID: You mentioned that your work with alabaster is an ongoing process and is still being developed. What direction are you interested in going next?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

OC: That’s a very excellent question. It’s one that I always ask myself. That’s why I started using new marbles in my new show, and I\u2019m currently preparing another show for We Design Beirut, in October, which is 100 percent without any alabaster in it at all, but I do still want to continue working with alabaster. The most important thing for me is to try to tell meaningful stories, and I hope that we see a more widespread use of endemic, local materials to tell stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Uraeus Birth Chair front view at Galerie Gastou.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Uraeus Birth Chair at Galerie Gastou.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Guillaume Stool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n