SHORT BIOGRAPHY
French Egyptian Lebanese former singer/songwriter, creative consultant, interior designer, product designer and artist Omar
'Chakil' El Wakil briefly studied design at Milan's DOMUS academy but defines himself as "self taught".
Omar is a natural esthete who tries to bridge a variety of cultural gaps through his creative practice.
After decorating private homes around the globe for nearly two decades, Omar started experimenting with limited edition objects
and furniture.
His first series exclusively made from raw Egyptian alabaster blocks sold out at Over The Counter' gallery during Beirut's 2018
design week and travelled with similar success to France, KSA, Italy and America. His work has been increasingly solicited by archi¬
tects and galleries around the globe ever since.
Known for introducing Egyptian Alabaster into contemporary design, Omar also brought the concept of collectible design to
EgyptHis pieces were featured in numerous exhibitions around the globe including Dubai Expo 2020, prestigious French auction house
Piasa, MENART fair in Brussels, Le Salon in New York, traveling collectible fair Nomad in St Moritz and Venice, Carwan in Athens
and a solo show in Cairo.
Architectural Digest selected him in their referential top 50 list for the Middle East's brightest talents in architecture and design
for three consecutive years including 2024.
Omar's Personal Note
In 2016, 1 decided to create objects and produce them in my father’s ancestral homeland, Egypt.
I had been living four decades in Paris working in a singular combination of song and interior design.
After months of tryouts with local crafts, I decided to focus on Egyptian Alabaster Onyx as I couldn’t
understand why such a beautiful endemic onyx marble traditionally used by Pharaohs, had been reduced
to cheap touristic souvenirs often mixed with Chinese resin and covered in bad varnish.
My first collection of limited edition objects carved from raw massive blocks of Egyptian Alabaster Onyx
made its debut at Beirut’s Over The Counter gallery during Design Week and sold out.
An incrediblejoumey began after that, traveling the world through various galleries with blessed success,
humbly adding a new kind of outlook on Egypt as a potential maker of original design.
But the most vital thing behind the experience which remains my primary modus operand! is how it
allows for new bridges between worlds and cultures. True connexions are rare and often too limited.
Creation and Design are precious opportunities to ignite dialogue within cultures but most importantly
between them.
When France and Italy shine throughout the world it isn’t by having inner dialogues, it’s by opening
connections with different worlds.
As an Egyptian, Lebanese and French human, deeply immersed in all cultures, I feel a responsibility to act
as a connective agent.
Never wanting to restrict possibilities to one place, I am lucky to also produce in a multitude of countries
including my native Lebanon where crafts and skills easily compete with the best that Europe has to
offer.