Consider it or not, the truth that two of three new reveals opening on the Museum of Vancouver this month are all about chairs is a coincidence.

In Deep-Seated Histories, a collection of every little thing from barber store recliners to church pews present a glimpse into Vancouver’s cultural, social and industrial evolution.

The opposite exhibit, Future Makers, seems to the long run with sustainable chairs constructed out of repurposed mahogany.

“For the previous 10 years, we needed to showcase and zoom in on one object kind in our everlasting assortment,” stated Viviane Gosselin, director of collections and exhibitions, curator of up to date tradition.

“We’re all very keen on chairs, so we thought, okay, let’s go together with chairs. After which on the identical time, this present of mahogany got here to us as a result of individuals in the neighborhood know that we love to do materials reuse. So the 2 converged. We’re in absolutely chair mode for the summer time.”

The 150 chairs in Deep-Seated Histories had been chosen from a set of about 250.

“The principle focus of the present was to speak about Vancouver historical past by way of the choice,” stated Denise Fong, the lead curator on Deep-Seated Histories.

“As a result of many don’t have provenance info, we don’t actually know the place they got here from or what their connection is to Vancouver. A part of the method was going by way of our current information to see what we might discover concerning the tales behind them, whether or not they’re linked to an essential landmark or heritage constructing or native enterprise in Vancouver, or to important people or organizations.”

Native historical past buffs, nostalgic sentimentalists and design aficionados will discover a lot to ooh and ah over within the exhibit, from Joe Fortes’ Morris Chair to a Fritz Hansen chair from the Woodward’s worker eating room to the custom-made bar stool from Little Sister’s E-book & Artwork Emporium.

“The chair that lots of people have been very interested in is our evening watchman chair from the Ship Inn, a pub in Greenwich,” Fong stated.

“It’s dated to the 1800s. And its major operate was to offer kind of protecting, snug seating for porters and individuals who can be ready close to entryways or doorways. It’s obtained this excessive, dome-shaped padded again, and it’s designed to guard individuals from the weather.”

Future Makers takes a far totally different tack. Utilizing wooden gifted to the museum by an nameless donor, college students on the KPU Wilson Faculty of Design had been charged with arising with new, inventive chair designs.

“The trainer designed a whole course across the mission, asking what it means to make issues once we know that we’re over-consuming? There was this entire dialog concerning the round economic system and materials reuse.”

Twenty-seven college students got here up with 15 chairs. Two, Andre Beeche Lacle’s Masenity and Jodh Sidhu’s A-Chair, acquired SAGE awards for sustainability from the museum.

“Masenity makes reference to the nation of a minimum of a few of the mahogany’s origin, Guatemala,” Gosselin stated. “It’s low to the bottom, even decrease than the extra conventional Guatemalan chairs. And that’s type of an try and encourage individuals to be extra linked to the land, to the bottom.”

The opposite winner, the A-Chair, has a again that tapers into a pointy level.

“I feel we noticed 50 iterations of it as the scholar refined the thought. It seems flimsy, like a chunk of paper that you simply fold and create a chair out of it. However it’s really very stable.”

The scholars have agreed to public sale off the chairs. Proceeds shall be donated to Indigenous-led reforestation efforts in Guatemala.

Curating two reveals specializing in myriad variations of the identical concept has been eye-opening, stated Gosselin.

“I feel what we’ve discovered is that we love the thought of specializing in one object kind, whether or not it’s miniatures or, I don’t know, kitchen home equipment, and taking every little thing we’ve and searching on the variations,” Gosselin stated. “What emerges? What does it inform us a couple of explicit object design, but additionally about our accumulating practices?”

Deep-Seated Histories and Future Makers are at Museum of Vancouver till Jan. 2026.