A metal chair overlooking Subtopia’s main building is an artwork created by Alazar Beyene and is a tribute to his homeland and culture in Ethiopia. In 2017, he was in the ninth grade at Liljeholmsskolan in Skärholmen and participated in the project “Chair 127” which was an initiative from his handicraft and arts teacher, Sten Canevall. Every student from three ninth grade classes were instructed to design and create a chair, entirely from their fantasy, led by Sten. The requirement for passing was “do it!”. In the final phase of the project, the students wrote a short story for their creation with their teachers Therese Segerström and Jack Singer.
Alazar got his inspiration from the Ethiopian rock-hewn churches that are buried underground and wrote a story about a king who didn’t have anything to sit on. The king, after he overtook Nairobi, saw a painting of a man on a chair, and he commanded his servants to make him one. The servants embellished their chairs with wool, leather, and gold, but not Alazar. One year later, his chair was finished, ready for viewing, and the king exclaimed, “I wanted to see who was honest and did what I told them to do, and only Alazar has”.
As the years passed, the chair became ornate with paintings from other artists.