Morabeza Chair

The Morabeza Chair takes its name from the Cape Verdean Kriolu word morabeza—a cultural ethos of warmth, generosity, and an open-hearted welcome. In Cabo Verde, morabeza extends beyond hospitality; it speaks to a way of being rooted in connection, community, and care.

The chair translates this idea into material and form. Cowrie shells, historically embedded within the cultures and coastal landscapes of Africa, converge to form the seat. Each shell retains its individual character while contributing to a collective surface, creating a physical expression of community through accumulation and unity. The frame is constructed from aluminum angle bar, chosen for its direct connection to Funaná, a traditional musical expression of Cabo Verde in which metal angle bar is used as a percussive instrument. 

Through this dialogue, organic shell and industrial metal bring together heritage and modernity, the individual and the collective, softness and structure, silence and rhythm. The Morabeza Chair explores Cabo Verdean identity not as something fixed in the past, but as something continually assembled through material, memory, music, and community.

Aluminum, PMMA, Cowrie