African artisan furniture celebrated at Amatuli store

My sister Thandi is committed. For years she has been telling me to go visit Amatuli and in my ignorance I have failed to do so. Finally, thanks to a short trip to Jozi (Johannesburg) in April and some time to kill before our cocktail date at Tasha’s Thandi manhandled me into the car and drove me to Amatuli herself (and thank goodness she did!).

Upon arrival I immediately understood why she was so insistent. Imagine 3 floors of gorgeous, hand-made artifacts, furniture and artwork celebrating Africa’s rich and diverse cultures and artisan traditions. We saw brightly beaded statues, colourful dyed reed furniture and pod-like pendant lamps. 

I was delighted by beautiful doors repurposed into coffee tables and benches – rough-hewn, telling a story of the many feet that passed over their thresholds…

Thandi fell in love with the massive photography – a lioness lurking after her prey, magnificent scenes of elephants in the wild, enviously uninhibited under the photographer’s eye…

This woman’s Take No Prisoners/I Am a Boss attitude had Thandi and I feeling more than a little adequate in her limelight. I love this shot, by the way – that she is so effortlessly powerful and regal in her stature just made me feel like I have a loooong way to go before I command any kind of stop-you-in-your-tracks respect.

And the piece de resistance – a rooftop bar!! One day I shall surely write a post about my incurable love of rooftop bars. This one was rustic, full of personality and decidedly unpretentious. The view from the balcony? Magnificent! I cannot wait to convince someone to have a party there just so I can drink a Cosmo on that balcony in the Jozi sunset!

The thing I love the most about Amatuli’s furniture is that everything just feels so lived in. The accessories are so evidently made with human hands – representing carefully honed skill and pride of work. The furniture whisper suggestions of the lives that have existed around it – what hands turned these handles, what beers rested on these tables, what children played on this couch, I wonder? Looking at these pictures again just makes me smile. I hope the same for you.

If you'd like to visit Amatuli yourself, here are their details:

6 Desmond Street, Kramerville, Johnnesburg, South Africa

t+27 11 440 5065 f+27 86 609 0247

amatuli@global.co.za

http://www.amatuli.co.za/

www.facebook.co.za/Amatuli

Follow Tenji on Pinterest

Follow Tenji on twitter: @zuvainteriors and @zuvaTM

Visit Zuva on Facebook

Disclaimer

I do not claim the rights to any images on this blog, unless stated otherwise. If you have any concerns regarding the content of ZUVALifeCulture, please send an email to tenjiwe@zuvainteriors.com.