A new life for old chairs

April 01, 2024

In the small town of Bera, in Navarre, students at a local school are working to give a new destiny to a batch of dilapidated old chairs.

In a few weeks, the chairs will be reborn alongside paintings by artist Josette Dacosta as components of a multicoloured "pyramid" of chairs in the school's exhibition hall.

The project is a continuation of a venture launched seven years ago by Itzal aktiboa with children from schools in Saint Jean Pied de Port, Saint Étienne de Baigorry, Larceveau and Chéraute.

The children collected old chairs from their homes and from their neighbours' attics and transformed them into works of art. The same is now being done by the children of Labiaga Ikastola.

"It's an exercise with triple significance," explains Josette, who initiated the project. "First of all, it's about showing that old objects that would otherwise have been destined for the garbage dump can find a new role in life."

"It is a collaborative activity in which children work together to express their sensitivities to colours and materials. And its result is an artistic creation whose aim is to inspire other similar initiatives."

From April 20 to June 2, Josette will exhibit her recent paintings on paper and canvas alongside the soon-to-be-constituted pyramid of chairs. The project has received an enthusiastic welcome from teachers. Once the exhibition Is over, 50 of the reborn chairs will be used during the 2024-2025 school year as an emblem to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the school's foundation.