Kabila Collection by Terry Aidoo references African courtyard culture
Designer Terry Aidoo has created Kabila Collection, a furniture series that takes cues from the traditional African courtyard as a place of gathering, exchange and shared ritual. Made from solid sapele wood, the collection comprises a coffee table and stool designed to translate communal space into contemporary furniture.
The collection is named after the word Kabila, meaning clan or tribe in both Swahili and Arabic. For Aidoo, the name refers to forms of identity shaped through family, tradition and collective experience. This idea informs the relationship between the objects, with the coffee table positioned as a central element and the stool arranged around it as a supporting seat.
Aidoo looked to the courtyard as a social and architectural reference. Across many African cultures, courtyards sit between private and public life, creating places where people gather, eat, speak and pass knowledge between generations. In Kabila Collection, this spatial arrangement is reduced to a compact furniture system that encourages conversation and shared use.
The coffee table is the main piece in the collection. Its surface includes a recessed circular detail that references the Eritrean coffee ceremony, a ritual associated with hospitality, conversation and time spent together. This element gives the table a ceremonial quality while keeping the object functional.
A carved detail in the table also refers to Oware, a traditional West African board game played across generations. Often used as a tool for strategy, learning and social interaction, the game adds another layer of cultural reference to the piece. Through this gesture, Aidoo connects the table to play, memory and everyday forms of exchange.
The accompanying stool draws from traditional seating forms of the Benin Kingdom, in present-day Nigeria. Edo stools historically carried practical and symbolic value, often linked to status and identity. Aidoo does not reproduce these forms directly, but reworks their proportions and presence through a contemporary design language.
Each piece is handcrafted from sapele wood, selected for its durability, warm colour and pronounced grain. The collection combines traditional woodworking with contemporary production techniques, creating furniture that balances craft, structure and sculptural presence.
Photography by Matteo Ercole, with courtesy of v2com
https://www.instagram.com/terryaidoo
Interested in publishing your work?
If you are interested in having your work featured on Visual Atelier 8, please visit our Submission page. Once approved, your work will be presented to our global audience of professionals and enthusiasts.
