Kameh Design Miami

At the twentieth-anniversary edition of Design Miami, Dubai-based artist KAMEH unveiled the 0.6 Collection, a sculptural series inspired by the raw geometry of the desert rose and the emotional terrain of personal memory. Presented in a curated setting that echoed the shifting perspectives of the desert landscape, the installation Nomadism of the Soul examines the movement of spirit, labour, and identity through material form.

Handcrafted in the UAE over many months in collaboration with local artisans, each piece embodies an intimate dialogue between the artist’s vision and the hands that shape it. True to KAMEH’s philosophy of intentional anonymity, the work prioritises purity of form over personal narrative, inviting viewers to encounter the objects without distraction.

In this interview, the artist reflects on the origins of the 0.6 Collection, the symbolism of the desert rose, and the profound relationship between creator, craftsman, and object.

Titled Nomadism of the Soul, the installation will be unveiled during his first appearance at Design Miami, in a section stewarded by American curator, author, and historian, Glenn Adamson.

It’s not incidental that his pieces look like they’ve been dug out of the ground. The designer Kameh was born in Turkmenistan and spent 16 years “where it is a desert”. Next year marks 16 in Dubai. “The common thing is the desert, and I was thinking about the similarity between them. I found this desert rose stone, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is what the collection will be about’.”

All of his pieces are produced by local artisans in the UAE, most of them one-of-a-kind or released in very limited editions, each handcrafted in Dubai workshops. In the early days, he often felt like giving up and outsourcing to Italy. But he resisted, convinced that the quality he admired abroad could also be achieved locally. Over time, he and his collaborators refined their process, and now, he notes, the detail in the latest collection is indistinguishable from Italian furniture.

Most of his collections revolve around the same set of objects, chairs, tables, mirrors, and more recently, shelves. At first glance, they don’t exactly look like the kind of furniture you’d want to sink into for 10 hours straight. But that, perhaps, is the point. Not every piece is meant to serve as all-day seating. Some are meant to be lived differently, shaping how we move through a room.

“In my opinion, it wouldn’t be any more comfortable or uncomfortable than any other wooden chair, let’s just put it that way,” he adds. “How many hours can you sit on a wooden chair? Probably not a lot.”