EXHIBIT COLLECTION

DOGON STOOL

DOGON STOOL

Hamed Ouattara, BFA, 2016

The materials gleaned from the detritus of daily life include plastic and metal, most notably discarded oil barrels. With the bright colours of the worn scuffed surfaces the designer gives them their distinctive signature style.

BFA-Hamed-Ouattara-dogon-stool-detailBFA-Hamed-Ouattara-dogon-stool-detail

Dogon stool, 2016
Recycled lubricant barrels
Sample 1: blue
Sample 2: red
Each H 85 x W 40 X Ø 43 cm
Galería Out of Africa, Spain

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

Hamed Ouattara

Hamed Ouattara is one of the shining stars of a new generation of designers in Africa who are not steeped in European aesthetic traditions, but who have found their inspiration and their own way of doing things  by looking at the immediate world around them. He makes his furniture out of the cast-off materials that come to hand – mostly old oil barrels that he shapes and hammers himself. In Burkina Faso, he has to do without many of the things Western designers take for gran ted – constant energy supplies, ready-made in-struments and equipment. He designs not with an eye on the tastes of smart gallerists in the West (though they seem to love his work), but with the desire to meet the needs of his fellow Africans, making their lives not just easier in the practical sense but also culturally richer and, critically, “plus belles”. He sees his pieces as a “modern African design luxury”. He participated in the 1990s in his first group exhib- itions and an individual show in Ouagadougou. He then exhibited in Grenoble in 1998, Brussels in 1999, and in Italy. Many exhibitions followed across Europe and the United States. 2014 marked a milestone in his  career when he won the African Design Award as best designer of his generation, in Libreville, Gabon.  
His ambition is to bring his work to luxury design in prominent gathering places and in the hospitality in-dustry across the world, shedding light on his unique technique made of recycling and ancestral handmade methods. His collections take you to a journey to the heart of Africa.

Hamed Ouattara *1971

Studies: ENSCI (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle) - France
Studio: Studio Hamed Ouattara since 2011
Exhibitions: GUILD Cape Town, South Africa; Maison et objet, Paris, France; R & Company Art Gallery, New York, USA; Out of Africa Gallery – Sitges Recicl’Art, Sitges, Spain; Southern Guild at Design Miami/ Basel
Status: Designer
Lives/works: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Contact: STUDIO Hamed Bransonka-Bra Ouattara