Creating practical products that are a synthesis of identity and design
Although only 25 years old, Abreham Brioschi, an Italo-Ethiopian furniture and rug designer is already recognized as a rising talent in Italian and international design circles.
Born in Ethiopia but raised in Italy, Abreham graduated from Milan’s NABA Fine Art Academy in 2022. While he was still studying, he exhibited his first collection of furniture at Milan Design Week, garnering interest from several galleries, designers, and international buyers.
Using wood as his material of choice and taking inspiration from nature and Ethiopian plus other African cultural designs, Abreham fuses these influences with technology, producing innovative pieces that are both functional and a ‘synthesis of identity and design’. During Milan Design Week 2023, Abreham unveiled his latest body of work, the Burgui Collection. This included his Scarification Stool and Lefleté Chair both inspired by traditional practices of the people of the Omo Valley of Ethiopia; the columns of the Bet Maryam Church in Lalibela, Ethiopia inspired his Wollaita Chair.
Abreham also debuted three rugs created with Nodus, the Italian luxury rug experts. The ‘Dancalia’ rug reflects the colours of the natural volcanic landscape of the otherworldly Danakil Depression. The Mursi and Suri rugs draw on the scarification designs used by these two groups who reside in the Omo Valley.
Abreham also counts Samuel Ross, a British designer and vocal supporter of young Black creatives, among his influences, leading to his vision to ‘be visible to aspiring designers’
allowing his work ‘to demonstrate that African design is significant’.
SOURCES:
www.nodusrug.it/collezione/dancalia/
www.nodusrug.it/collezione/scarification-mursi/
www.nodusrug.it/collezione/scarification-suri/
www.wallpaper.com/design-interiors/abreham-brioschi-nodus-rugs
www.surfacemag.com/articles/abreham-brioschi-designer-day/
www.stirpad.com/news/stir-news/abreham-brioschi-traces-his-ethiopian-roots-through-futuristic-furniture-ensemble/
