Chairman
Oro Editions

Chairman is Yinka Ilori's first monograph, published with Oro Editions, tracing more than a decade of work through one of the most enduring motifs in his practice: the chair.

For Ilori, chairs have never been purely functional objects. They are vessels of memory, cultural identity and storytelling. Growing up in a British-Nigerian household, everyday chairs became symbols of gathering, hierarchy, celebration and belonging. From family homes and places of worship to public spaces and the streets of London, they reveal the ways in which design quietly shapes how we come together.

The publication explores how these everyday objects became the starting point for Ilori's wider practice. His early works transformed discarded chairs into colourful sculptural pieces, drawing on traditions of reuse deeply rooted in Nigerian culture while creating new narratives through pattern, colour and craftsmanship. Over time, the chair has remained a recurring language through which Ilori reflects on community, heritage and the stories embedded within ordinary objects.

The title Chairman references the layered meanings of the term within Nigerian Pidgin, where it can signify respect, confidence, authority or humour. Throughout the publication, the chair becomes a lens through which to consider broader questions of identity, power and belonging, exploring how objects can both reflect and reshape the social dynamics that surround them.

Bringing together works spanning furniture, installation, public art and architectural interventions, Chairman demonstrates how a single object can evolve into a broader design language. Colour, material and narrative become tools for connection, inviting conversations between cultures, histories and communities while celebrating the richness that emerges when different identities coexist.

More than a survey of Ilori's work, Chairman is an invitation to reflect on the objects that shape our own lives and the stories they continue to carry.

Contributors

• Co-Author: Jareh Das
• Interviews: Jane Atfield, Martino Gamper
• Poem: Julianknxx
• Graphic Design: Studio Temp

Client
Oro

Practice
Publication