Talking Points: Yinka Ilori and Chair Design

A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Yinka Ilori.

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Yinka Ilori

Yinka Ilori is a multidisciplinary artist and designer with a bold bright visual language influenced by his British-Nigerian heritage. Three components that feature heavily in Yinka’s work are pattern, colour and storytelling.

Yinka uses his crafts as a way to communicate Nigerian parables and verbal traditions.

His work is described as a fusion between contemporary design and Nigerian tradition.

“If the chair you are sitting on could tell your story, would it be a dangerous or good thing?”

Explore some of Yinka’s chairs here.

Please note: Teacher Advisory. Pls watch the video below and decide if you would rather start the video after a few minutes in.

Explore Yinka’s collection ‘If Chairs Could Talk‘ alongside work by the poet Julian Knxx

Watch these videos made by the Craft Council about Yinka’s practise.

Questions to Ask Children

Make a list of everything that you can see in the classroom that has been designed by an artist/designer.

Spend 5 minutes designing a chair based on your mood right now, think about your decision making and annotate the design. 

Name colours that are happy/sad/angry/excited.

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