Pull up a chair as these two Cairo-based furniture designers will keep you at the edge of your seat.
Mariam Elias, of Paradoxia, and Ahmed Abuzaid, of Block B Furniture, will be featured on Saturday at Vent in Downtown Cairo, in the first of a series of creative exhibitions held at this venue.
The two Egyptian designers tactfully tease traditional tastes in furniture, which Westerners often giggle at as being too classical and kitschy. By taking the old-fashioned look and running with it, the two designers have made a delightful quirky twist to your average Egyptian furniture.
Abuzaid explains that Block B Furnture is “a rebellion against the way we as Middle Easterners approach furniture,” which he says often mirrors their grandparents’ houses. His classic wooden chairs are vibrantly painted, matched with a variety of eye-catching upholsteries, ranging from deep blue patterned fabric to cow hide.
Paradoxia, which often pairs together modern and old as well as Eastern and Western styles, aims to “create a new aesthetic that is familiar to the coziness of our grandma’s house, but fit today’s lifestyle with our flat LCD plasmas,” Elias explains. Rather than clash, the mix of designs from various hertiages and cultures harmonize together, allowing the pieces to effortless meld into your living room.
Saturday’s exhibition will give art-goers a chance to meet the designers, see some furniture samples and inquire into the pieces.
The Furniture Show
Saturday, 4 January 2014 at 6pm
Vent
6 Kasr El Nil St.
Downtown Cairo
0225747898
