Iwan Maktabi x de Gournay: Two Worlds of Art Coming Together

The event showcased two icons in de Gournay’s wallcoverings: Mahal Garden and Dandaka Glades. The collaboration itself was born during an opportune visit to Iwan Maktabi’s showroom, where the team at de Gournay discovered a set of antique Mughal carpets.
Inspired, they merged this artistry by selecting two designs to blend with the carpets’ vibrant colourways. The artisans then hand-painted these shades into the wallcoverings, presenting them under a new lens. An ornate scene of a gleaming white palace amidst verdant but orderly gardens, Mahal Garden takes as its inspiration hand painted works from the Mughal courts of the late 18^th century, in particular splendid renditions of native wildlife – including a majestically clothed elephant, a cheetah and leopard – surrounded by exquisite, hand painted depictions of flowers. For the collaboration, Mahal Garden elegantly incorporated the vibrant hues from three Agra carpets – specifically the Agra, Rare Agra, and Indian Agra Amritsar Shah Abbas Carpets – revealing a palette of Crimson and Teal, alongside lighter tones of Desert Champagne and faded pink.

A lively rendition of a dense and teeming forest of flowering plants, thickets of trees and trailing vines, referencing Mughal artworks of the 18^th Century, Dandaka Glades is named for a fabled Kingdom from Hindu mythology and one of the largest ancient forests of the Indian subcontinent – said to be the dwelling of the mythological character Dandak.
Particularily altered for the collaboration, this rendition of the Dandaka Glades wallcovering radiated the luxurious gold tones reminiscent of the Golden Agra Carpet.
Attracting Beirut’s top designers and key personalities, the event immersed guests in a Mughal-inspired space, where they were treated to a sensory feast, revelling amidst Orient 499’s exquisite selection of objects and furniture. The centrepiece was a stunning buffet, adorned with a tablescape that not only tantalized the taste buds but also evoked the unique flavours and aromas of India, creating an immersive experience of two worlds of art coming together.