Funzi
Furniture Factory was established in Kenya in 1991 by Michael J Calnan
(CV), an Australian by birth. Having travelled most of
Europe and Africa during the seventies he now lives and works on the beach in
Tiwi just south of Mombasa."......I arrived in Kenya after my first overland
journey across the Sahara desert in 1972. After some ten months on the road I
arrived at the beach in East Africa and decided to stay...........it was then
I recognized in the local traditional craftsmen a wealth of talent laying
mainly dormant"."......I have always believed in trade not aid in Africa; all
the local people ever needed was a market to exhibit their wares...........
they certainly had access to some of the finest woods I have ever seen and
their ability to work these woods was extraordinary. "
".....they
have an amazing eye for form. They do not, and need not obey the rules of the
European philosophy of the straight line. A geometric shape that does not even
occur in nature." "....everywhere one looks in Africa, on the beach, or in the
bush, there are fascinating pieces of root or driftwood harboring natures own
design , just waiting to be released through a skillfully wielded chisel of an
African craftsman and a mountain of sandpaper." These days most of the work of
looking after the company is done by Sabine, Mike's Teutonic blonde partner.
Funzi
Furniture Factory was established in Kenya in 1991 by Michael J Calnan
".....they
have an amazing eye for form. They do not, and need not obey the rules of the
European philosophy of the straight line. A geometric shape that does not even
occur in nature." "....everywhere one looks in Africa, on the beach, or in the
bush, there are fascinating pieces of root or driftwood harboring natures own
design , just waiting to be released through a skillfully wielded chisel of an
African craftsman and a mountain of sandpaper." These days most of the work of
looking after the company is done by Sabine, Mike's Teutonic blonde partner.