Canelab
| 02 August 2011
Canelab is a young company (almost three years old now) created by Jean-Marc Joullié and Dominique Heil. Initially, Canelab, was established in an Auroville. However, due to a high turnover in staff, it finally established itself- with a solid team, a high quality of research and design and a wide range of products in Pondicherry. The company operates from two places; Yaka Home Design, the showroom and the head office is in the French quarters of Pondicherry. The workshop and manufacturing is carried out, in the south of Pondicherry.
Dominique Heil and Jean-Marc Joullié met in India. Dominique had just left Lacoste where she was a collection director and Jean-Marc had worked as a graphic designer for about ten years in an advertising company. The idea behind Canelab was to compliment craftsmanship wit design.
ActuPondy caught up with the two founders of this ambitious, ethical and environmental project.
ActuPondy : Jean Marc, You were a graphic designer, how was it for you to shift from graphic designing to designing objects/furniture
JMJ : In these last years I have turned towards photography while editing images. I think the behavior of lights towards a certain object was something which got me interested in this field. Experimenting emotions with hot, cold, with different shapes, shadows, abstract objects.
Photography fascinated me, but I wanted to work manually with an object which would give me more chance to experiment. And so I chose crafts.
And why the use of cane ?
JMJ : It was practical. It’s a very handy and easy to use and put in different shapes which help for better research.
DH : When we work with cane, the object is not fixed, finally each piece is unique. And working with cane also offers multiple aspects, we use the branches, the skins..
How did you get to know about this material?
JMJ : I saw that cane could be found here, in all the houses there was these not so comfortable cane furniture which were not finished properly. So I approached a workshop and we made three prototypes and designs that I had in mind. This was our first experiment; very positive but we were not satisfied by the quality and the finishing of the product.
This was the moment where we thought that it was necessary to have our own workshop. So I hired some people to find staff and a location for me.
Where does the raw material come from?
JMJ : With the cane we do two types of work : at first framing and then the dressing. The frames/structures in cane have a wide diameter and essentially come from Assam. For the dressing, we use the skin and heart of ratan coming from Indonesia and Malaysia. We would like to reduce the (carbon trace) by using fibers from India.
So all the cane comes from outside, and it is still accessible (not expensive).
JMJ : Yes, the material itself is less costly than wood, all depends on the quality, if it is worked (machined) and the quantity.
In our furniture we use a lot of raw material because all the sides are dressings and we also use another type of cane with a thicker diameter so that it keeps to the shape.
How many people work for Canelab?
DH : Now around 10 people working here and we would want to keep it to that way as we don’t want it to become a manufacturing plant.
The people who work with you knows the technique, how do they accustom themselves with the designing, everything must be new for them I imagine ?
JMJ : Yes, it’s one of the difficulties. The first person who came to work with us with the frames is 25 years old and has lived abroad. And he is open to looking at things in a different way, which is great for us. But on the other side, for the cane workers?, we have had one each month since the beginning. Since they were used to making series, it was a new way of working they were not ready for. We finally found a solution with an association: “ Dance with Signs” (Speech and Hearing impaired community).
DH : Right in the beginning, we had in mind : craftwork, design and if possible working with a minority, the speech and hearing impaired. It was a bit complicated when we were in Auroville (because of the distance). Last March-April, we decided to get closer to this community, in the South of Pondicherry, and everything really started.
You had to teach them from the basics I imagine?
JMJ : Yes, they are all from different backgrounds and have worked either as masons, painters or farmers and they wanted to move out from their difficult conditions. They were ready to get paid less to learn a new technique that would later provide a better work quality, and devoted themselves completely to the work, something which we were fascinated by.
And how do your production and the market evolve ?
DH :our Indian clientele is evolving fine. At first we worked locally with individuals or hotels in Pondicherry and Chennai, like Dune. When we launched our website and started getting press articles, we extended our network to big cities.
It is clear that our products are original and reach a modern clientele, who like design bur also are sensitive to ecological questions.
We also have contracts with French distributors, but this takes time. We are hoping to be at “Maison et Objet” workshop soon.
And locally ? Projects in Pondy ?
Local market remains a priority for us, and we are opening our showroom, Yaka, with other designers.
JMJ : Why not have a workshop in France with their local raw material and form Canelab. Making baskets are something which is practiced in different countries with different raw materials connected to each country. It is a very ambitious project and so Canelab will become a creative laboratory which will adopt to different situations and will change it’s style according to different Country.
More information on Canelab