In a warehouse just outside Toronto, furniture makers finalize historic pieces that are to be part of Pope Francis’ Canada trip.
Beginning with wood from maple and oak trees, the designers bring to life sketches that were put on paper a month ago.
The final product is eight chairs about 55 centimeters high – about eight centimeters higher than a regular dining room chair – adorned with white padding and a carved wooden crown featuring a revolving image of a flying eagle, salmon and a caribou flock .
The chairs are used for the pontiff at each of the eight public events he intends to attend during his Canadian tour, which begins on Sunday and ends on July 29, with stops in Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut. Is.
Quality & Company, a custom furniture manufacturer based in Maple, Ont., was commissioned to create one-of-a-kind pieces.
“We pulled all of our resources here for this to happen? All hands were on deck,” says company president Frank Caruso.
From designers to carvers to upholsterers, some 30 people worked hundreds of hours to make the chairs reach their final destination.
In the end, the team created two different designs for the chairs, using specs provided by the Vatican to accommodate the Pope’s mobility issues. The designers used four different stains and six different fabric and embroidery patterns. It also worked with Metis graphic designer Sean Vincent to include a logo he designed for the Pope’s visit, which depicts animals moving in a circle.
“These pieces are going to be pieces of the heritage where these events take place. It was very important that each chair had a twist or a unique kind of feeling,” says Raphael Studart, senior designer at Quality & Co.
Studart says the team drew inspiration from architecture found in churches and churches. To reflect this the chairs themselves have simple shapes and arches.
He added that each item also has an embroidery pattern that is subtle and unique.
“It makes sense that the chair should be simple, but not simple, in the sense that it should be. Moment without overpowering what is the main focus, which is the healing and reconciliation process,” says Studart. Significance needs to be translated.”
The theme of the Pope’s visit is “Walking Together”. This is to include public and private programs with an emphasis on indigenous participation. It is expected that Pontiff Maskawasis will apologize at the former site of the Erminskin Indian Residential School in the community of Alta. – Elaborating on the apology given to Indigenous representatives at the Vatican in April.
Pedro Guevara Mann, the deacon in charge of programming for the Pope’s visit, says it was important to keep the chairs simple and not take away from the message of the visit.
“It’s not about prosperity,” he says.
“Chairs will succeed if they are not taken care of.”
This is not the first time chairs have been made for a Pope’s visit. Some were built for the Pope’s previous visits to Sri Lanka, the United States and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
“It is something that is starting to happen organically. Because it’s a simple gesture of something that can be done not only as a gift to the Pope, but also as an inheritance gift that will remain where the Pope comes from,” says Guevara Mann. Huh.
Guevara Mann says that each chair will probably stay in place where it is being used or is adjacent to it. The chair used during a mass at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, scheduled for next Tuesday, is to later go to the Archdiocese of Edmonton.
Each chair costs between $6,000 and $7,000. The company covered 90 per cent of the cost.
“This is such an important event in the history of the country that it is an honor to be a small part of it somehow,” says Studart.
© 2022 Canadian Press