Synopsis: Jomo Tariku drew inspiration for his chairs from a mountain antelope native to Ethiopia. Through his work, he hopes to change the world’s perception of African design.

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The spiraling horns of the nyala, a mountain antelope native to the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia, have long fascinated furniture designer Jomo Tariku. Born in Kenya and raised in Ethiopia, Tariku studied industrial design at the University of Kansas before settling near Washington, D.C., in 2000. Somewhere along the line, those horns made their way into his sketchbook and, as he has in a range of other recent seating pieces, Tariku drew inspiration from an element of his African heritage as he designed his Nyala chairs.

This pair, in ebonized ash, were built by David Bohnhoff, Tariku’s frequent collaborator. “Through my work,” Tariku says, “I aspire to change the world’s perception of African design while exploring contemporary form. I want to continue the African tradition of creating objects with embedded meaning while maintaining their utility.” He is certainly succeeding; for more evidence of that, see Designer’s Notebook on p. 28. And you can see Nyala chairs in person at Philadelphia’s Wexler Gallery.

—Jonathan Binzen

Photos: Jomo Tariku.

From Fine Woodworking #303

	Designing the embedded message Jomo Tariku’s Ethiopian heritage informs his furniture design, helping him to create unique seating, among other pieces.
	Designer’s notebook: Inspiration surrounds us It’s common to get furniture design inspiration from the furniture of other designers, but if you want to expand your design horizons, try an alternate approach
	Another perspective: The Mashrabiya Project Philadelphia’s Museum for Art in Wood highlights six artists reinventing an ancient architectural art form.