Museum of Vancouver hosts Future Makers: Chairs by New Designers starting June 20

Exhibition in partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Wilson School of Design features chairs made from decades-old mahogany

SPONSORED POST BY Museum of Vancouver

Sombra, co-designed by Nilvia Rojo Morales and Alvin Gutierrez with Michael Parrenas, will be part of Future Makers. Photo courtesy of the Museum of Vancouver

Bloom Chair, co-designed by Sara Lee and Quintin Kehler with Jordyn MacAdams, will be part of Future Makers. Photo courtesy of the Museum of Vancouver

Created in partnership with Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU)’s Wilson School of Design and the Museum of Vancouver (MOV), Future Makers: Chairs by New Designers offers critical reflections on the history of everyday material.

The MOV issued KPU a challenge to transform decades-old mahogany into chairs fit for a new era. Once used by Vancouver’s marine industry, the wood sat fallow for years before it was donated to the MOV. Student design teams created 15 original chair prototypes using the material, which is rooted in a deeper history: the extractive trade of tropical hardwoods that contributed to widespread deforestation across Central America.

The resulting works are surprising, thoughtful, and often poetic. Each chair is a meditation on sustainability, responsibility, and what it means to shape the future through design.

The chairs will be auctioned off during the first 90 days of the exhibition, with proceeds going to the Association of Forest Communities of Petén in Guatemala, where the wood was originally harvested. The association’s work includes forest preservation and reforestation.

At the exhibition, visitors will have the option to create their own chairs from recycled cardboard.

Future Makers opens June 20. Learn more through the MOV.

Post sponsored by Museum of Vancouver.

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