Furniture Collection Celebrates Forgotten Filipino Heritage

Filipino-American artist Cheyenne Concepcion launched the Reclaim Collection at WantedDesign Manhattan during New York Design Week 2022. This furniture collection includes a lounge chair, nesting stools, totemic sculptures and a mirror which were designed to fit a contemporary setting. 

“This is one of the most famous chairs in the world, and it’s so disconnected from its original heritage,” said Cheyenne Concepcion on the forgotten history of the iconic Filipino Peacock chair. During her architectural research, Concepcion learnt of the creation of the chair by inmates at the Bilibid Prison in Manila in the early 1900s. Utilising this heritage chair as a model, the artist crafted this organic, textural four-piece collection that weaves a captivating story about form, heritage, and materiality from the Filipino diaspora and their rattan culture.

Concepcion explained that what distinguishes a Peacock chair is its stunning classical hourglass shape in an erect and upright position. This is how the Doña Chair came alive. To display a modern touch, she lowered the chair, relaxed the posture, and added wood, brass, and steel to the material palette. The brass ball at the bottom represents femininity and royalty, projecting the image of a matriarch. 

To match the Peacock chair theme, the Coco Nesting Stools mimic the hourglass figure of the Peacock Chair, evident in the powder-coated steel legs. The Lolo Mirror is a tribute to Concepcion’s grandfather, who was an avid stargazer. Inspired by the Philippine basketry from the 1915 Panama Pacific exhibition, she created the Anak Totems which she wove canned through the metal wire frames. 

The Reclaim collection gained attention from the local media. New York Post praised the collection as one of the favourites in the 10th NYCxDESIGN Festival, and Sight Unseen listed the furniture collection in their Top 25 Favourites from the New York Design Week.