Yassine Ben Abdallah

Ālamārī આલમારી [𝗘𝗡] « 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴... » 𝘈.𝘛𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 Since the 19th century, the Indo-Muslim community has been established on Reunion Island, although few public archives bear witness to its history. During his residency at Ravate,Yassine Ben Abdallah searched through family archives, gathering stories and memories in an attempt to capture fragments of the Indo-Muslim history of La Réunion. From this research emerges Ālamārī, a piece of furniture that sets out both to narrate the story and to contain the artifacts of a community. Ālamārī features three removable shelves conveying religion, family and commerce, wich are the fundamental tryptich of the community’s life. Tamarind wood, endemic to both La Réunion and India, links these two territories while also recalling the origins of the Ravate group, which was founded on the trade of local wood by the patriarch Issop Ravate. Turmeric-dyed jute ropes evoke the community’s trading origins and the bean sacks found in Zarabs stores. Enveloping the cabinet, the half-silk, half-cotton fabric called Mashru (Arabic for « permissible », as the skins of Muslim men cannot come into contact with silk), materializes a space of opacity, a threshold of intimacy. Finally, the basalt tenons symbolize the integration and rootedness of a community that is now part of the island’s identity. Created in collaboration with @materra_matang Cabinetmaker: @aymericdelmas_ebeniste 📷: @zevistudio