The story of Fernando Samra It seems woven with pieces of time, family memories, forgotten treasures and obsessions transformed into style. For 35 years he turned his passion for art, objects with history and exquisite atmosphere in his own universe: Mayflowera pioneering space in Buenos Aires, owner of an eclectic style, refined and deeply personal, in which each piece has a story to tell and is chosen by the top and celebrities sethors. Tireless collector, obsessive and restorative decorator of traditions, in this interview with news, reviews his story and looks at the value of the authentic, fashions in antiques and the silent luxury that lives in each object chosen with good taste, maintaining his faith in which the aesthetics can still transform spaces and people.
News: How was your relationship with objects and the world of decoration?
Fernando Samra: This situation has to do with my family. My maternal grandparents, the animososo, were owners of The Clock House, a very recognized watch house. Before that, already in the twenties, they had a jewelry store. I had fascination with my grandfather: I took the workshops to see how the restorers worked. Since I was a child I was in the backstage of that world. On the other hand, my mother – very very emblematic and particular man – changed the furniture and decoration of his house all the time. And the son I was looking for to help her was me: “Can you help me move this screen?”
News: I carried it in the blood …
Samra: (Laughs). It seems that. In addition, my grandfather’s mother, who came from France, belonged to a family of cabinetmakers. It was very installed. There is even a curious anecdote: when my grandfather arrived in Argentina she stayed at a pension where she shared a room with Quinquela Martín. I have paintings dedicated by him to my grandfather because that was where he began to paint. Imagine: I grew up between watches, workshops, paintings. I helped my father with the field, I did my studies, but the passion was clear. And as I am a bit obsessive, which was a hobby became a company. As a boy, I was already going to the Larreta gallery to visit antiquers. With my “son budget”, I bought what caught my attention.
News: When do you decide to transform that hobby into a business?
Samra: At the end of the eighties, I put together the Stand of The Clock House for the antiquarian fair in the Alvear organized by Nelly Arrieta. It was crazy, we ran at the last moment with upholstery, lights, everything. There I became friends with several decorators. But what I saw in my family’s business seemed too rigid, all very seven or 18th century. And I, because of my age and the environment in which I moved, wanted something more mixed, fresher. And I realized that, at that time, in Buenos Aires there was no proposal like this: either they were antiques or gift houses. In the middle, nothing.
News: And so Mayflower was born
Samra: Yes, in 1990. I wanted to create a space where you could find something that was not in series, that had style and was exclusive. Something that did not have your neighbor or your brother -in -law. Then I traveled through Europe, visited factories and workshops, and put on my first import: a mixture of old furniture with contemporary objects. I opened the first place in Avenida Alvear 1448.
News: Why did you choose that name?
Samra: It was a great mentor, José María Buitrago. He told me: “You are doing the same as the pilgrims with the Mayflower: bringing culture to this place.” I loved it. And it was true: at that time there were no modern lamps or design objects. Works of art yes, but the rest was very limited. I wanted something authentic, original. Not things in series.
News: Its registered trademark is to show objects in context, never randomly
Samra: Always. Although the first place was a boy, the idea was from the beginning to build full scenes: the table set, the desk with its lamp and its chair. That concept of “Mise in Scène” was essential. I don’t believe in showing objects in showcases. They have to “live.”
News: Was there any key moment that made him feel that he was on the right path?
Samra: Yes, a well -known lady passed with her driver, saw the stained glass window and later called her secretary to say that she wanted the entire window. Not a piece: everything. I realized that the staging was fundamental.
News: How did that original space evolve?
Samra: I bought a huge house in San Telmo that is still my workshop, but I needed more space to show. Then we found this Petit Hotel near the 5 corners on Libertad Street and we transform it into the current showroom.
News: What criteria are there to incorporate a piece?
Samra: First, quality. Second, authenticity. I don’t care if it is 1970 or 16th. If your style represents well, it is pure and is well done, I am interested. And now that we talk about sustainability and recycling, the fact that all the pieces have passed through our workshops, where we restore without synthetic, with cabinetmakers who work the old one. It’s a luxury, I know. But it is a tradition that must be maintained. It shows in touch, in the weight, in the details. In a digitalized world, what is done by hand is an act of resistance.
News: Do you even choose each object yourself?
Samra: Always. I am passionate. First because I like it and I have a link with each piece. There is nothing in Mayflower with what I have not had, at least, a momentary arrow with her.
News: And it doesn’t cost you to part?
Samra: Not at all. The link is in the rescue, in the investigation, in returning its splendor. Then, I already fulfilled my role and I can get rid of. My friends laugh because the same thing happens in my house: everything broken, moves.
News: Are there fashions in antiques?
Samra: Many. There were moments of rage for English furniture, then the French, later the Italians. Then came the Art Decó and also oriental art. But Eye: The old has not always value. The value is in quality, the invoice, the state, the origin. The old without further is worth it.
News: What three things should take into account someone who buys an antiquity?
Samra: First, identify with the piece. That chooses it by real attraction, not for fashion. I should never buy, because then you are going to live every day with that piece at home. Second, to look at the quality: there were exceptional artisans at all times … and also mediocre. And third, who understands that he is making an investment. Not only because you will enjoy it, but in time it acquires value. Something chosen does not lose value. Therefore, I do not recommend fashion to the letter, because then it passes, and you have a house that does not go anymore. Quality, variety and genuine, they never go out of style.
News: What defines the Mayflower style?
Samra: The sobriety, the nobility of the materials, the mixture of textures, the timelessness. I do not believe in fashions, but in climates. In which a space hugs you, not to dazzle you. And there is something very Argentine too: that tension between European and the Creole, between the refined and the wild.
News: How do you see Argentine contemporary art?
Samra: It fascinates me. I respect the great teachers very much, but the bright young litter with a powerful, sometimes provocative look, sometimes very subtle. Many of those artists went through our workshops and today are part of our exports. We export furniture, objects, and also Argentine art to Europe and the United States. The Argentine handicraft is highly valued.
News: What do you think of minimalism?
Samra: True minimalism, pure, such as Japanese or Nordic, I love. Although it is not my style, I admire it. But that other “minimalism” of “I do not commit”: white, simple lines, without character, which is more absence of commitment that aesthetics, I do not value it.
News: Is collector considered?
Samra: Can’t! I like everything. Mine is rather a constant search, an infinite conversation with objects and with the stories they tell.
News: What continues to inspire after 35 years?
Samra: Beauty And the idea that a space can change humor, energy, even life. He inspires me every time a client is excited about something he finds. Because there you understand that you are not selling a furniture or an object, but that you are creating a small habitable world.
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