Tucurinca: Places on a Chair
#theidentityintheobject
¿a Territory, a brand, an object? Tucurinca produces an effect when being pronounced; cadence that wakes the senses. Rafael Zuñiga the founder told us how he talks about identity through the furniture he designs alongside artisans from his land; Santa Marta, Magdalena.
Photography: Tucurinca, Interview: Francisca Ceballos
What identifies the Tucurinca chair, what’s its trademark?
The Tucurinca chair is its artisans and Caribbean idiosyncrasy. Although a great work team is behind it, this is the perception that is seen from the outside and it ends up defining us to the public.
What has been the biggest challenge to stand out and differentiate in the furniture business?
Creating coherence between story and quality in handcrafted products. There are some cases where these two don’t go well together. There are products that are functional, durable and perform adequately, but in general these tend to fall into the mass production category, they don’t tell a story and end up being just a product. There are other products with great story telling that motivate the consumer through emotions like nostalgia and impulse but end up lacking in their purpose.
We always look towards unifying both of these points of view: A great story with a great product.
What do you think about Marni´s interpretation of the chair?
Marni´s interpretation is great. The use of color and the work they do each year is always an influence for Tucurinca. In fact, our first chairs were fabricated having in mind what Marni did; they were the first reference we found when we started investigating about this chair. It is always good for external influences to exist so local culture is transported to other places, Marni has his interpretation based on what they do in the fashion sector and the cultural load from Colombia, they are very skilful when it comes to interpreting and imitating what happens here. But they have gone further than just copying the technique and for this reason it is one of the most admirable interpretations in the conceptual and aesthetic spectrum.
On the other hand, there is the functional part and the quality of the product which I don't see in Marni. This does not detract from the previous process, but it makes the product look like a statement and not as a performative product, that holds up and isn’t ruined easily.
At Tucurinca we try to get a bit of both: a true story and a product that can truly deliver on a terrace and hold up.
“The Acapulco” chair has been in charge of bearing the identity of this city. What region does the Tucurinca chair speak of?
The Tucurinca chair speaks of the Magdalena region, from the Zona Bananera to Santa Marta, including beaches and mountains.
I would say that this chair, like Santa Marta, does not know what it has.
It's a chair that was made in the neighbourhood, but turned out to have the potential to be a piece considered as international design; and Santa Marta, is a city that has not learned to find itself and is eternally lost in the search of its calling. The chair is an analogy of Santa Marta.
On the other hand, Tucurinca is a way of fixing the Zona Bananera; my grandfathers farm was there. Hence the name. There is something “Macondiano” about this but I wouldn’t want to steal anything from Gabo because my story is different. On the farm we used to eat sancocho, played domino and took walks down the river. My first birthdays were like that. I remember some of it but help myself remember with pictures from past memories.
It ends up being a mixture between the exotic glamour from the beaches, the jungle and La Sierra along with the rudimentary aspect of a sancocho and a ride on a carro e mula. Us like the chair are a product of this.
This chair, although present in different regions of Latin America it feels more Caribbean because of 3 aspects: The colors, its resistance and its functionality. Do you think then objects are appropriated by territories due to their climatic characteristics and cultural practices?
Objects evolve organically, just like nature. Those who perform well stay and are used. The ones who don’t, disappear. The chair effectively stayed. This process of evolution is undoubtedly influenced by cultural characteristics and practices. In the end of it all the objects that have a clear and useful function in a space end up maintaining themselves and being a part of the cultural practices, and for this it has to be able to understand the environment in general. Climate, society, space, utility; everything matters.
How to transfer this object to other climates, other latitudes. Does it lose its soul?
The object does not lose its soul when it goes to other places. The chair can take different forms and adapt through materials, color, quality and designs. If the object is consistent with itself, it is always capable of transferring its soul wherever place you take it.
Is the artisans work a means for him to transmit his culture to the object?
Trades allow the artisan to locate himself in the modern world. Beyond an artistic interpretation, it’s something life handed them on the way. Very few of them said: "I want to be a craftsman." They were simply born in an environment that eventually led them to that, due to necessity or other reasons. In Tucurinca the weavers were not necessarily artisans before working with us; most of them learned to weave in our workshop and ended up doing it very well. But even-though they were not artisans, they always lived in a place where crafts had value and where involved in their daily basis.They did not practice the work before, but they had an innate talent to develop their skill; and so far this is what has happened in our workshop.
Is this craft ancient knowledge?
Yes, the craft is ancient knowledge. Colombia has great heritage when it comes to weaving and it is seen everywhere. Usually when Colombian design transcends to an international scale it’s through weaving, since it is the means by which it has been explored and what we seem to be good at.
