Furnex features wide style range
Jenny Heinzen York -- Furniture Today, August 22, 2005
Cairo, Egypt — Furniture at the Furnex show here came in a broad range of looks, due in large part to a renewed emphasis on design and the fact that Egypt imports nearly all its manufacturing materials.
Styles ranged from stark contemporary to intricate, heavily carved and inlaid case goods. There is a substantial marketplace here for antique reproductions, but as Egypt is evolving into a more modern country, so too are the designs in furniture.
One of the show's highlights was the debut of a consortium of about a dozen Egyptian designers who have decided to work as a team to market their skills to furniture manufacturers around the world.
Many of these designers already work for European manufacturers, but want to help build the Egyptian furniture business into a respected international force, according to Amr Helmy, CEO of Amr Helmy Designs and organizer of the design consortium.
"We plan to iconize the existence of this industry and really put it on the map," Helmy said. "Being together has created a powerful entity. We are very enthusiastic about putting this force of talented people to work."
Amr Abdel Latif, executive director of ExpoLink, the Egyptian exporters association, said the country's reliance on imported production materials can give it an edge in versatility.
"We see that as an advantage over some rival countries," he said. "We are open to all wood species and veneers."
