Mazen al Rawahi might have struck gold with his idea — converting unwanted items into something chic, comfy and a great addition to any home.
The proud owner and founder of the Recycling Team project, he has sold almost a dozen of his set barrel chairs which found a niche and acceptance in the Omani society. “The nature of the Omani society is this: we love everything new. What I did is look at things existing now and had fallen into disuse, some would even consider them trash and then convert them to things of beauty restoring life to them and making them acceptable again,” he said.
“The barrel chairs that I created had been the most sought after products in the market today thanks to their chic style, there modern designs and their eye-popping colours,” he said. The idea behind the barrel chairs according to Mazen is converting barrels that would have otherwise thrown into landfills and them shaping them to become furniture. “It’s amazing that with little imagination, you can convert such items into sturdy chairs and tables. With creativity, they can become attractive and shaped elegantly, and these chairs are perfect for gardens,” he said.
Since he was a child, Mazen already loved assembling and disassembling things. He has always been curious as a child intrigued by the components of what makes things work. Over the years, he devoted more time in gaining experience in how to convert things into something else, and that’s when the upcycling/recycling idea came about.
From iron, wood, glass and plastic, he can make furniture, home decorations and even art.
“At the very beginning, I managed to create a wooden fountain shaped like a well. I imagined this piece of wooden cable drum to be something else. I found one of these one days and took it home and when while I originally wanted to make into a table, it became something else,” he shared.
“I mixed wood, iron, plastic and pottery to finish that first project. The thing is, the wooden fountain worked and inspired by Omani environment, I was happy it gained a lot of admiration,” he said.
To date, Mazen has already created a sound system out of a gas cylinder. He also made pieces of art out of old metal tools and shaped them into animals. He also has a minion made out of some old metals he found discarded.
Mazen thinks that many homes today need something to decorate them with and he is trying to fill that gap.
“Many Omanis have gardens and love farming, so I decided to make beautifully shaped pots and furniture out of old tires,” he said.
“The bottom line is identifying the available materials and knowing what every home needs and using enough creativity to come out with a useful design,” he said.
Like other handicraftsmen, Mazen began his passion as a hobby and ended up making money out of it.
“At first, the community was not receptive to the idea of recycling and upcycling. They were wondering how it is reasonable that they buy the waste they throw away earlier,” he said.
After a series of successes and failures, his goal now is to spread the culture of recycling and upcycling.
“I’ve participated in several exhibitions to pitch the products and idea to people. I have to spend my own money even if I didn’t have a job. I wanted people to appreciate the beauty in this project,” he said.
In the future, “I aspire to open a special place to manufacture in even bigger scale these things I produce. My vision is to produce products with Made in Oman on it,” he said.
Mazen shared he is looking forward to market the product both inside and outside Oman heavily.
BY RUQAYA AL KINDI
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