GBA (LOW CHAIR)
[1,2,9,11,12]: GBA (LOW CHAIR)
[3]: A Baule woman from Ngata Dolikro, Côte d’Ivoire, sitting in a low chair
[4]: This chair at home in @seedarchives
[5,6,8]: Variations of low chair designs from the Senufo [5,6] and Dan [8] peoples
[7]: Young girls performing a dance at circumcision camp during which they use their chairs borrowed from their grandfathers’ to hit the ground rhythmically
[10]: Old men used these low chairs as both seats and headrests
From: Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮 (likely Gere culture. Could be Baule, Guro, Senufo or Dan culture as well)Source [3,5-8,10,13]: “African Seats” a book of photos and essays edited by Sandro Bocola. Shelved at @seedarchives
Source notes [13]: “When it is time for a girl to be circumcised, she goes to her grandfather and asks him to lend her his chair for the duration of the circumcision camp. It is very sad if a girl cannot get a chair, for then everyone will be able to tell that she is a poor orphan with no family to support her.”
Observations:
designed for multipurpose use, (potential) cultural synthesis, social significance, visual harmony, formal harmony, multi-part design, functional ornament, intentional ornament complementing person’s behavior at interaction, design by responding to nature, highlighting construction detail
