The 1680 square metres flower puzzle will for the first time be made up of more than 80% fresh dahlias, rather than the traditional begonias.
ADVERTISEMENTBrussels' historical Flower Carpet is shaking things up this year and breaking with tradition in the hopes of attracting a new and younger audience.
According to event organisers, up until now, the Flower Carpet's motif each year was linked to a specific idea, such as a cultural event, a guest country of honour or a specific anniversary. This year, things will be different.
The carpet's motif will instead be "a nod to Brussels and Art Nouveau", in an event that will take place between 15 and 18 August.
The flowers used in the carpets have also traditionally been begonias. However, this year, more than 80% of the carpet will be made up of different colours and varieties of fresh dahlias.
Océane Cornille is the Liège-based artist who was chosen to revamp the Flower Carpet's look.
The artist, who goes under the artistic name "Whoups", was initially contacted in January by the Flower Carpet organisation. After a bit of back-and-forth on potential ideas and sketches, they finally agreed on a design.
"It was challenging. I was totally free for my design but my lines are really thin and I had to think the design was not in centimetres but in flowers," she shares with Euronews Culture.
She joined a team of illustrators, graphic designers, and landscape architects who bring the event to life every other year. It was a collaborative effort unlike any other Cornille had experienced before, she says.
It takes around six hours and more than 100 volunteers to build the 70-metre long and 24-metre wide carpet.
Check out some of the pictures in the gallery below:
Combining passions to express her art
Océane Cornille studied graphic design at the École Supérieure des Arts de Saint-Luc in Liège and worked a 9-to-5 office job. "And then one day, I just noticed that I didn't want to be in an office," she says.
In 2020, she painted her first mural and since then, she has received more and more commissions.
Cornille's artwork has been exhibited around Belgium in all sorts of forms — walls, floors, flags, train carriages, and skate parks.
Despite being dubbed a street artist, she prefers paint brushes over graffiti spray cans. She says that her art pieces connect nature to another one of her passions: contemporary dance.
"I always think about the movement, and I wanted to express this way that we are walking down the streets in the city, which is never linear, you always have to turn around obstacles," says Cornille. "And this is why there is that movement in my work too."
ADVERTISEMENTA work that reflects the diversity of Brussels
This year's flower carpet will be called "Rhizome", a subterranean plant stem that produces shoots above and roots below.
"The lines in my work represent the rhizome of plants but are also a metaphor for the urban rhizome, where neighbourhoods converge and diverge in a complex and dynamic network," explains Cornille.
"Like the roots of a plant, these lines intersect one another and overlap, creating a dense, organic network that reflects the diversity and vitality of Brussels," she adds.
Brussels' first flower carpet was created by landscape architect Etienne Stautemasn in 1971.
ADVERTISEMENTThe carpet's opening ceremony will also feature a light and sound show.
