When I’m looking for a chair for my home, the first thing I think about is how comfortable I would feel if I’ll be sitting on it for hours whether I’m reading, scrolling through my phone, or resting. But then there are chairs that are more about their design rather than their functionality. These are pieces of furniture that are more than just what they’re meant to be and are a representation of aesthetics, culture, or even a deeper look into what the creator wants you to see.
Designer: Mehdi Dakhli
Designer, creative consultant, and curator Mehdi Dakhli wants to be able to celebrate North African culture through his creations. He is able to use his native Tunisian heritage and combine it with contemporary art to create furniture that has deeper meaning. His latest is the Muravey Chair, a reinterpretation of his previous design called Sidi Bou. It is also inspired by the abstract expressionist painting Loses im Rot by Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian artist that was in turn inspired by Tunisia during his visit. Another inspiration is the Ant Chair by Arne Jacobsen which was created for the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which produces the insulin that Dakhli currently uses as a diabetic. So everything about the design of this chair is a full circle moment.
The material used in the chair is from Wenge, a dense hardwood that is native to Gabon and Cameroon. It is upholstered in 100% wool fabric that is sourced from the Netherlands. The Muravey Chair stands on three intricately sculpted legs that have hand-carved elements, with the backrest blending inside the seat and going down into the rear leg so you get a stable chair. The seat itself is inspired by the shape of an ant’s abdomen, with the legs emerging from each side. That’s where the chair gets its name from as Muravey is the Russian word for “ant”. Overall, the chair looks like an ant if you look closely.
Just looking at its form, the chair doesn’t look stable or comfortable at all. But Dakhli says that he gets great satisfaction when people realize that the chair is actually “sturdy and comfortable”. He says it brings him great joy when he is able to create “moments of uncertainty and curiosity” with his designs. And of course bringing attention to contemporary African design is also one of his main purposes in creating designs like this.
The post Muravey Chair shows off Tunisian design mixed with contemporary art first appeared on Yanko Design.