I've never tried my hand at carpentry so I took a brave step in getting away to
Slieve Aughty Centre, an ecofriendly resort for a weekend in the hills to learn how to
make a Sugan chair from the expert. I know, I should have settled for making something
small like a chopping board instead of something that requires massive strength and expertise.
Sean Walshe the master craftsman was at hand to teach us this ancient and beautiful art.
A younger Jeremy Irons look-alike, Sean patiently guided and helped us 5 ladies to choose
the logs and make the chairs from scratch. He has great experience of traditional furniture
construction based upon a knowledge of native hardwood trees combined with the use
of traditional hand tools.
So while others took to drilling and hammering with much ease, I was pushed to my
physical limits and even fell backwards once when the force exerted was too great and
I lost my balance. The heaviest thing that I had ever carried before the foray into logs
was a watering can full of water. I prided myself as one who wielded more power with
the pen then with the axe.
Due to their bespoke nature, Sugan chairs are made of green native timber, ash and
hazel with 'mortice and tenon' joints. This archaic chair has a seat made of woven sisal
rope or twisted hay. Sugan is the gaelic word for straw .
The chair is found in most rural traditional homes and they come in different sizes and
styles. Some have arms so that farmers could rest their arms after a hard day's work
at harvesting potatoes or cutting turf. Others have no arms so that more children can
squeeze round the dinner table. In fact in the old days when the story teller (Seannachoi)
called, he would have the prized seat. He would sit comfortably, telling stories to the old
and young. Such was the simple entertainment of the day.
I am not a chair person as I'm rather a bed person. A good bed is absolutely essential for
a good night's rest. However, interestingly enough a chair symbolises a great many thing.
There's the seat of knowledge and the seat of power. It is the throne that the king sits and
it is also the place where the condemned prisoner finds himself before being electrocuted.
The distance between chairs can denote either intimacy or estrangement.
The Broken Chair, sculpted by Swiss artist Daniel Berset is one. Originally erected on
August 18, 1997, Paul Vermeulen, director of the non-governmental organisation
'Handicap International' in Geneva, saw it fit to use the broken chair as a strong symbol
for the Mine Ban Treaty.
Another example is Vincent Van Gogh's painting of a chair and a pipe to illustrate simplicity
and separation from the world.
Empty chairs signify loss.
The seventy bronze chairs scattered around Plac Bohaterow Getta which used to be
Plac Zgody in Krakow, Poland represent the pain and absence of the day as the ghetto in
Krakow was cleared and all the people's possessions were strewn across the streets. It is also
known as the Ghetto Heroes Square. Each steel chair represents 1000 victims.
Even in the musical Les Miserables, we have the iconic scene of empty chairs and
empty tables where revolutionaries paid the price of freedom with their lives.
So,what is the price of a personalised chair?
I love a good challenge and I am one of those who believe that when you stretch yourself
outside your comfort zone, you learn something.
And what a stretch it was - with muscle ache in all directions, I carried home a beautifully
hand crafted Sugan chair.
THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN THE NEW STRAITS TIMES MALAYSIA 7 AUGUST 2016
http://digital.nstp.com.my/nst/books/160807nstnews/index.html#/23/
THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN THE NEW STRAITS TIMES MALAYSIA 7 AUGUST 2016
http://digital.nstp.com.my/nst/books/160807nstnews/index.html#/23/