At BoConcept, Art Meets Design in Homes - THISDAYLIVE

As artworks become part of the way spaces are lived in, Vanessa Obioha writes that BoConcept and the Nomadic Art Gallery work with artists to give African art a home.

Since introducing the Art Meets Design concept over a decade ago, BoConcept, a Scandinavian furniture house in Victoria Island, Lagos, has noticed a shift in how Nigerians live with art. More and more people are not just collecting artworks for decoration; they are considering them as part of the character and identity of a space.

“We’re seeing people being more intentional about the art they’re collecting because art has shifted from what people just collect,” Derrick Chidumebi, the Head of Marketing at BoConcept and Nomadic Art Gallery, said. “Way back then, it was easier for people to just collect these works, but now we’re seeing people who want to have these artworks fit into their spaces; to have their friends come around and show them the art collections.”

The same thinking is finding its way into corporate spaces, where art is being considered alongside the design and construction of offices. At the BoConcept showroom, this has translated into clients considering not only the furniture that suits their spaces but also the artwork that will live with it.

But the idea of bringing African art into the home is not new to the furniture house. It dates back to when Charlotte Obidairo launched the BoConcept franchise in Nigeria in 2014.

BoConcept is a Danish brand known for contemporary designs, minimalist aesthetics and Scandinavian influences. As a Danish woman married to a Nigerian, Obidairo saw an opportunity to bring the Scandinavian brand into a market where homes often carry strong African influences. But sales did not take off immediately. People walked in, admired the furniture and left without purchasing. It was only when she began listening to the feedback that she realised what was missing: a connection between the Scandinavian furniture and the African homes in which they would live.

An avid lover of art, she found a way around it. “It’s really taking African or Nigerian artists and their artworks, emptying the walls of the BoConcept traditional gallery and putting the art and artworks amongst the BoConcept furniture and just showing how it works,” she told THISDAY in a 2024 interview.

That idea remains visible in the showroom today. African art blends with high-end modern furniture and minimalist interior design for homes and offices. Some of the furniture pieces themselves carry an artistic quality, such as the Imola chair, whose curved design is reminiscent of a tennis ball and creates a feeling of being embraced when seated in it.

The Sweetart chair is another piece that shows how art can be incorporated into furniture design. Its curves and neat lines give it an artistic quality. As Chidumebi puts it, they resemble an artist’s strokes.

The relationship also extends to the design of the furniture itself. At its core, BoConcept’s collections sit at the intersection of art, architecture and everyday living, where sculptural forms, thoughtful materials and iconic designs turn furniture into objects of visual expression. The new Paraggi collection by Claudio Bellini continues this dialogue, bringing an architectural and almost sculptural quality to the contemporary home.

For BoConcept, however, the relationship with art does not end with the furniture. Upstairs, the Nomadic Art Gallery houses artworks and hosts immersive exhibitions from various artists, from sculptures and installations to abstract works and bold canvases.

The gallery has also become a space for BoConcept’s relationship with contemporary artists. 

The furniture house has worked with Nigerian artists including Victoria Ndubuisi, whose collaborative work with Paulcy Odama, ‘Groundwork,’ is currently on display.

“We also commission artists to do these artworks because sometimes a client may walk in and want something personal to them,” explained Chidumebi.

That connection between art, space and personal expression will continue in October, when the gallery hosts two exhibitions. Renowned Nigerian artist Peju Alatise will present ‘Sculptures of Light,’ a series of handcrafted lighting designs created in collaboration with other creatives under the name Alaafia & Friends.

The exhibition explores the relationship between sculptural form, material and illumination, using marble castings, granite dust, mild steel, textile, paints and fragments of ocean glass. The works are conceived as permanent architectural installations, with flexible lighting elements that can be removed and replaced when necessary.

The broader Art Meets Design event will be hosted on October 31 with the theme ‘Every House Remembers.’ The exhibition treats the house not just as shelter, but as a vessel for memory, culture, history, belonging and spiritual presence. It will feature works from artists including Francis Agemo, Duke Asidere, Gbolahan Ayoola, Nosa Osadolor and Ato Arinze.

In this sense, the relationship between art and design goes beyond making a room look beautiful. It is about what the things within a space can say about the people who inhabit it.

“In the simplest of ways, I would say art deserves a home. That’s how I will simplify the intersection. 

Artwork deserves a home. Art can’t just be stored up in warehouses. It has to fuse in with the home. It has to have a place to call its own, and that’s one thing BoConcept has done. You see that when you look at the curves, the design, and the intentionality of our furniture.”

The relationship between art and design also rests on the simplicity of BoConcept’s furniture. This is where its definition of home comes into play. After all, a home should be a place of tranquillity, giving one a sense of peace while allowing the furniture and art within it to reveal something of the person who lives there.

“For BoConcept, a home is where there’s peace of mind, simplicity and where your taste is visible,” he concluded.

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