The Xabregas — Chateau Marmont connection

➔ Nicolai Sabib

We met at a place called Salto which, in the past few years, Nicolai has built into one of the most interesting art galleries and arts residency places around Beato.

But how did he get here? Initially, he studied journalism in the UK to pursue the dream of writing about music - a passion seeded in the roots of his upbringing.

Nicolai’s Algerian grandfather moved to Paris as a young boy to study music. Being of Jewish descent, he had to flee France during World War II. In Barcelona, he met Nicolai's Portuguese grandmother, with whom he eventually moved to Portugal.

Nicolai's father and uncle, who grew up in Portugal’s Douro region, also became musicians, with his uncle finding success in New York's jazz scene and later becoming an art dealer.

Nicolai's mother, a contemporary dancer, came to Portugal in the early '80s to perform at a show and met his father, which led to his birth in the UK and upbringing in Portugal. Having spent his childhood in Porto and about, he moved to Lisbon with his mother when he was only 10.

It becomes obvious that music ran in the family long before Nicolai was born. Only, while studying in London to become a music journalist, he came in contact with Graphic Design and was inspired to switch paths. He moved back to Lisbon to study for that, and later to New York, where he learned conceptual thinking from some of the world’s top designers.

But upon returning to Portugal, his first job in a large agency disappointed him due to its lack of creative freedom. “They just wanted me to copy something that they've seen four years ago somewhere else. I immediately hated working as an agency graphic designer, it wasn't interesting to me at all.”

Getting to Third Base

A lot more engaging to Nicolai were certain projects he came across within the cultural sector, which allowed him to collaborate with artists and art festivals, either in music, theater, or graphic design. “It built me up. I got a lot of experience doing things that I really wanted to do”, he recalls.

One project in particular revealed itself through investors looking to establish a contemporary art-focused hotel in Lisbon, which would include art residencies and a gallery.

Presented with this opportunity, Nicolai leveraged the experience he'd been acquiring in working with artists, both in fine art and contemporary art, and took on the role of creating a residency program allowing artists from various disciplines produce works specifically for hotel spaces.

“I wasn't interested in just the aesthetic side of it, or merely displaying purchased artworks. I was looking for artists who would apply to the residency program with projects that might conceptually change the way people perceive or experience a hotel. The goal was to enhance the guests' experience through conceptually driven art”, he explains.

As the story goes, Nicolai found a perfect place in Xabregas (Beato) to work on this project, which he called Third Base, in connection to the hotel’s concept. “For six years, I ran this space where artists could work on their art pieces for 3-month residencies coming from all over the world and different visual arts fields, from sculpture to photography, painting to video art. We also had an apartment where they would stay. It was great because the investors really supported us.”

The hotel ended up not coming to fruition but Nicolai got this intensive learning experience, dealing with artists daily, selecting different projects, helping to produce and curate regular exhibitions of those works at Third Base, thus making this a significant chapter in his professional development.

Salto Alto [high heel / high leap]

When Third Base closed, Nicolai was left with this rented space, which had originally been a shoe factory. It looked a bit cavernous before he had moved in and he’d been investing for years in renovations. Building a community around it also took time, so he decided to turn it into permanent studios for artists to work.

It hosts five artist spaces and a shared workshop. “We have an Italian artist who works mainly in sculpture, photography, and installation. We have a Portuguese artist who works with installation video and photography. We have a French and an Italian artist sharing one corner”, he tells us.

Today, the place is called Salto, meaning both "heel" and "leap" in Portuguese. Nicolai explains the play on words: this used to be a shoe factory, but I also see this new version of the place as a leap into the future. Salto also runs as a non-profit gallery where young artists can showcase their work. Nicolai handles curation, promotion, and event setup.

An Entrepreneur in Denial

Nicolai doesn’t see himself as an entrepreneur: “There’s been a lot of DIY, yeah. But I lack financial motivation, my projects are usually a lot of work and not so much pay”.

But the signs are all there. He can’t seem to be able to stop himself. On top of Third Base and Salto, he’s been a DJ for 20 years. And for a few years, he worked as a music curator, selecting music for very high-end places in the world, like the mythical Chateau Marmont, in California. “Music has been a huge part of my life. I started collecting music super young, I think I was six or seven when I started to buy CDs and I was 13 or 14 when I started buying vinyl”, he says proudly.

Nicolai also never stopped doing different design projects and collaborations, mostly with Lisbon’s arts scene.

“I'm at a point where I want to figure out a long-term project which gives me some stability, so I'm working on setting up a small agency, combining my experience in contemporary art, mixed with music and graphic design."

They’ll do Art Direction for customers, places or brands, bridging between arts and brand consultancy. They'll curate special collaborations with artists and take care of communications, graphic design, music, and production. "I don't think other agencies are doing this in Portugal and I have a vision on how to connect these different areas”.

And just like any good old entrepreneur, he’s lately been busy with fundraising for what comes ahead.

What Comes Ahead

At Salto, the way to move forward is, obviously, with a leap into something new. After working with no funding for almost two years, he and his new partner, an arts curator, applied to DGARTES [national public funding for the arts] and Salto is funded for the next year, with a cycle of exhibition - the gallery is already fully booked for 2025.

An important part for funding applications has been to establish relevant partnerships, such as a gallery in Denmark and an independent art space and residency project in Algarve. Collaboration includes Salto doing shows there, and vice-versa.

They have now been working for 2026, both the programme and the funding applications. They also applied for funding from the City for some renovation works. Step by step, they’re trying to find ways to make the project financially viable, to be able to keep doing what they want to do.

And what is it they want to do? According to Nicolai, “Salto needs to be this non-profit space dedicated to experimentation and the promotion of diverse expressions of contemporary art, where we can really do what we want and work the way we want, independently. It’s more oriented to lesser known artists, young artists, outsiders, experimental artists, people who may have exhibited before but tend to work in the margins. We want to show the work that we think is conceptually interesting”.

Community-Centered

Nicolai moved his workspace to Xabregas [Beato, Lisbon] in 2016, after recognizing its potential as a hub for creativity. His work had been deeply tied to collaborations with Portuguese artists and cultural figures João Pedro Vale and Nuno Alexandre Ferreira, who used to work there. At the time, Xabregas offered the affordable studio space necessary for such creative projects.

Today, there are many different studios of artists in the area and one of Salto’s recent shows was with artists who have studios next door, in Centro Comercial de Xabregas. According to Nicolai, "in the evolving dynamics of Xabregas and the surrounding neighborhoods of Beato and Marvila, Salto wants to maintain accessibility and foster community ties. Through partnerships with local NGOs, such as Associação dos Moradores do Beato [residents association], we are establishing projects and creating opportunities for local schools, senior organizations, and local young artists”.

He does share some concern about Lisbon’s development. There is no doubt that change has brought vitality to formerly abandoned areas, but Nicolai claims the long-term needs of the community must not be neglected.

“We need balanced policies to preserve affordable housing and studio spaces. Businesses and policymakers must prioritize integration with the local community to maintain the authenticity of Lisbon’s neighborhoods’ unique identity - which is what attracted newcomers in the first place”, he says.

It’s pretty obvious Nicolai loves the neighborhood. He eats at local places, knows the people who work around him, clearly enjoys the community. “I feel like if we can contribute to that community, and still do what we're doing, the way we're doing, then we have a good thing here”.

‍