Studio Kër Looks at Design as Resistance

In 2020, Bennett founded Studio Kër, which is named after the Wolof-language word for “home” but also connotes the kind of family gathering common in the Senegal-based culture, to which he can trace his roots. His Paw Paw’s Chair—produced using African sapele wood—challenges the standard settee typology with its unconventional forms distilled from different points of reference such as the shape of the okra plant prevalent in East Africa. His speculative designs often also suggest how functional wares can be used to inspire gathering. 

The notion of congregating is a concept that also carried over to his October 2023 Public Display outdoor installation, mounted as part of NYCxDESIGN’s Design Pavilion program. Various CLT wood stools were methodically arranged close together around a central altarlike element.

While his chosen materials are often deeply charged and suggestive, Bennett also carefully considers shape and challenges the standard dimensions of so-called universal furniture typologies. “When I go to Scandinavia or Japan, the furniture doesn’t fit me. But when I’m thinking about the work that I’m making, I’m thinking about the Black body in space.” 

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• Manufacturing

• Adrian Madlener
• Art and Craft
• Diversity and Representation
• Emerging Talents
• Michael Bennett
• Studio Ker