LABA GRUMETI ART LODGE
LABA GRUMETI ART LODGE
“The choice of materials, furniture, and décor for our Grumeti Art Lodge was guided by the artworks we acquired as part of a private collection,” explains Julie Brisson, who developed the project over nearly two years.”
“All of these works celebrate Africa, so we needed a setting that would respond to them and showcase them. That is why we chose raw yet noble materials such as teak — used for the carved doors and sculpted openwork panels crafted by Tanzanian cabinetmakers — banana leaf, which is widely found locally and beautifully textured with its patchwork of tawny tones to dress the walls and ceilings, as well as raw copper, onyx, and even zellige imported from Morocco, echoing the handmade clay chandeliers produced in South Africa.”
Grumeti Art Lodge rises like a fortress, drawing on the codes of tribal art and African warriors. The reds of Zizipho Poswa’s majestic sculpture and Jean-Servais Somian’s canoe-shaped benches echo the Maasai red; the raw copper recalls the terracotta tones of African tracks; and the custom-designed zellige patterns in the showers and pool reinterpret the motifs of traditional African and Zulu shields.
The beaded clay nest-shaped pendant lights evoke weaver bird nests and poetically adorn the site’s emblematic tree: a marula, whose fruit is used to produce the African liqueur Amarula.
The “Sentinels” furniture collection — a trilogy of pieces designed by Lucia Soto, co-founder of the studio Comité de Proyectos — integrates seamlessly with the spirit of the המקום. Inspired by the guardians and warriors of ancestral cultures, the pieces engage in a powerful dialogue with the artworks displayed throughout the lodge.
