{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1809539"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1809539/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PM4453/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PM4453/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PM4453","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PM7634","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2026PM7635","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1809539","accessionNumber":"W.1-2026","objectType":"cabinet","titles":[{"title":"Ouaga cabinet","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"The Ouaga cabinet, like much of Hamed Ouattara’s furniture, is made from used oil drums. \r\n\r\nThe cabinet takes its name after Burkina Faso’s capital city Ouagadougou. This is the designer’s birthplace and workplace, and it is also the hub of Ouattara’s material network (along with the city of Bobo Dioulasso). There, he purchases used oil drums from scrap markets which he then cuts and upcycles into furniture. \r\n\r\nOuattara’s interest in material reuse is both ecological and socio-economic. In his work, he aims to strengthen and support local recycling economies. Ouattara often speaks of the perceived material scarcity in his landlocked, import-dependent country and encourages a resourceful attitude to sourcing materials, focusing on those that are often not valued, such as used metal drums or fallen wood. The origins of the material are not concealed but highlighted, as can be seen from the oil company Total logo prominently featured on the surface of this cabinet.\r\n\r\nThe designer sketches prolifically as part of his design process, visualising colour and structure simultaneously. He then drafts full-scale layouts in chalk directly on his worktable to assess the design’s dimensions before constructing prototypes. Assisted by a small team of collaborators in Ouagadougou, he cuts, folds, rivets, welds and decorates sheet metal by hand, avoiding the use of mass-produced fittings such as hinges. Every piece is crafted using tools of his own design such as handmade folding machines, ensuring independence from industrial supply chains and preserving aspects of traditional craft knowledge.\r\n\r\nIn an interview, Ouattara explained: 'This piece is directly inspired by earthen architecture from West Africa, where mud, banco, and adobe are not only structural materials but also carriers of memory, spirituality, and community. The vertical lines, rhythm of protruding beams, and strong yet soft contours echo the Great Mosque of Djenné (Mali) and the Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso). These constructions embody resilience, collective identity, and ancestral techniques that continue to inspire contemporary design’.\r\n\r\nBeyond architecture, his wider inspirations include African and West African craft traditions, metalworking heritage and African spiritualities’ reverence for nature. The furniture from his grandfather’s house also left a lasting influence, grounding his designs in personal memory as well as collective history.\r\n","physicalDescription":"Cabinet made out of recycled metal from oil barrels, with single door shelf","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Ouattara, Hamed","id":"AUTH408603"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"}],"techniques":[{"text":"welding","id":"AAT53958"},{"text":"bending","id":"AAT53101"},{"text":"rivetting","id":"x40193"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Recycled metal from oil barrels, cut, folded, rivetted and welded. Production tools used designed and made by Hamed Ouattara.","categories":[{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2026PM4453","2026PM7634","2026PM7635"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"76","id":"THES49548"},"free":"","case":"PL16","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"cabinet","id":"AAT38888"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Burkina Faso","id":"THES270355"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x39722"},"note":"Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2025","earliest":"2025-01-01","latest":"2025-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"© Hamed Ouattara (Mohamed Sékou Ouattara)","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"88.9 ","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"68.58","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"38.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Ouaga cabinet, designed by Hamed Ouattara Mohammed Sikou in 2014, made 2025 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Recycled metal from oil barrels\r","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Hamed Ouattara is assisted by a small team of collaborators","productionType":{"text":"Bespoke","id":"THES409218"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["W.1-2026"],"accessionNumberNum":"1","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2026,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2026PL9835"],"recordModificationDate":"2026-06-17","recordCreationDate":"2025-09-15","availableToBook":false}}