MY FAVORITE THING

This small wooden stool, carved from one piece of wood and decorated with intricate carvings, holds the quintessence of my childhood. Known as a gho in the Bissa language, which literally translates to “sitting wood,” it represents comfort and sense of being held close and cared for. This is because whenever I saw my mother sitting on it, I knew she was either about to start preparing a meal or some other activity that was connected to family life. These stools would get carried from one corner to the next to allow people to perch next to a stove to stir a stew, or next to some bowls to shell peas or to gather together and talk.

When I see these stools today or trace my finger along their carvings, I am transported back to Gando and, more importantly, to those memories that anchored me within my community and family and which to this day nurture my work. I seized the opportunity of designing my first pieces of furniture to pay homage to it. And so, the ZIBA came mark an important period in my life and it delights me that, through a design process, I could connect seemingly transient moments: my childhood of carefree play and arriving at a place in my work as an adult when I was free to design as I wanted.