20 June 2012

The Dalai Lama to have best seat in the house at historic event

When The Dalai Lama addresses the sold-out crowd at the Caird Hall on Friday he will do so from a chair lovingly crafted for the occasion by a furniture maker from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD).

Malcolm Cheyne teaches design and craft working at DJCAD as well as running his own bespoke furniture business. He has spent the past six weeks scouring the country looking for the right wood for the occasion, designing, shaping and building the chair, which was inspired by a 2nd century Egyptian design for travelling dignitaries.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama is making a historic first visit to Dundee on Friday, June 22nd as a guest of the University of Dundee. He will deliver this year's Margaret Harris Lecture on Religion, entitled 'Education of The Heart: a new world order of compassion' that afternoon.

It is traditional for The Dalai Lama to deliver such talks from a chair, and Malcolm has been commissioned to create the one for this event.

"It's a huge honour to be asked to design and build the chair for what is an historic day for Dundee," he said. "While finishing work on Degree Show preparations, I was approached by Mike Press of DJCAD, and asked 'would I like to build The Dalai Lama's lecture chair?' It's not often I'm speechless but I was this time, as it's not often you will hear those words, casually spoken.

"I only had six weeks to design and build the chair, so I've spent a lot of time in the workshop recently. My work ran seamlessly from degree show into the lecture chair, so it has been intense but also hugely enjoyable.

"It has given me an opportunity to bring together ideas that have been with me for a while. For example, I have incorporated text, screen printed in a strong blue, rising through the leg sections and then onto the arms using words associated with His Holiness' teachings - Education, Heart, Freedom, Kindness, Love, and Peace."

The process of making the chair saw Malcolm cut, shape and refine 14 individual curves of sycamore, which were then put together, polished and finished.

It is curved in such a way to provide comfort for His Holiness. A felted blanket made from pure wool will be placed over it. The blanket, which is in the colours of The Dalai Lama and Scotland, was designed by Angela, Malcolm's wife, who also crocheted and felted it.

He added, "I looked at other chairs that The Dalai Lama has been sat on in the past, and I felt they were too laden with cushions and wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to create a chair that presented and supported him rather than swallowing him up.

"The design came from 2nd century Egyptian chairs that were used for travelling dignitaries. I chose to use sycamore because of the clean, simple nature of the grain, and this was what we were also thinking when selecting materials for the blanket."

The process of designing, making and building the chair has been captured on camera by Malcolm Finnie, a photographer and filmmaker based at DJCAD. The footage he has assembled will feature in a film about the chair, which will highlight its beauty and symbolism.

"The film is backed by traditional Scottish music, and my purpose was to make a visually pleasing film, which was easy given how beautiful the chair is," he said. "It has been fascinating to be in the workshop and to capture the design and manufacturing process and see the skill and care that has gone into its creation."

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