A UNIQUE chair, crafted by an emerging County Limerick furniture designer, was one of the most popular items on display at an exhibition hosted by the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) over the past year.
Daniel Lang from Ballyneety, is currently studying on the B.Sc. in Furniture Design and Manufacture programme at the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Letterfrack campus in Connemara.
He designed and crafted a three-legged chair that was selected for display in the “Our Irish Chair: Tradition Revisited” exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland’s Country Life branch in Turlough Park, Castlebar.
The exhibition, which opened in October 2021, will run until next March.
Daniel’s work is a result of an initiative by the National Museum of Ireland and ATU Connemara, which challenged furniture design students to respond to examples of chairs in the national collections and design a piece of furniture for the modern home.
The Limerick student’s design was inspired by a particular Irish chair type known as the Tuam or Sligo chair and was crafted using an aesthetically strong contemporary material of resin to place his design firmly in the 21st century.
Clodagh Doyle, Keeper of the Irish Folklife Collection said it was inspiring to see how emerging designers applied such creativity, skill and commitment to their individual works.
“It is especially engaging to see how the modern interpretations are so striking and vibrant yet still manage to evoke a sense of an enduring design passed down through the generations by dedicated craftspeople.”
Admission to the exhibition is free and further details can be seen here
