Ancient Egyptian designs mingle with Scandinavian minimalism
A hands-on program brings Danish design students to workshops in Damietta and the Nile Valley.
When it comes to furniture, Egypt is rarely seen as an innovator or cutting-edge producer.
Even in 2019, the 35,000 registered workshops in the Nile Delta city of Damietta are churning out pieces largely based on models from the 19th century — in a style contemporary designers sometimes refer to derisively as “Louis Farouk,” known for its gilded and ornate features.
But a new partnership between the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and two Egyptian furniture manufacturers has brought young Danish design students in contact with producers. The partnership is helping to introduce Scandinavian sensibilities to local producers, which, in turn, opens their horizons for new export markets.
“Today, Egypt makes furniture that is most often inspired by French and Italian designs from the 18th and 19th century, and contemporary Danish minimalism is some distance away from the Louis Philippe style,” said Andreas Lund, a professor of furniture design at the Royal Danish Academy. “But of course, Egypt has its own impressive history of design, and in the mid-20th century important Danish interior architects took inspiration from pharaonic pieces that came to global attention with the discoveries of Howard Carter in the ancient tombs of Luxor.”
