While the 2022 Flower Carpet symbolised a return to its roots, reinventing the motifs of Arabesques, the first Carpet of 1971, Rhizome, the 2024 motif is a real break with tradition on several levels.
Historically, the Grand-Place Flower Carpet was mainly composed of begonias. This year, splendid Campine dahlias take centre stage. The organisers of the Brussels Flower Carpet opted for those of the Loenhout Floral Parade, which had already supplied the dahlias needed for the 2022 edition.
This year, more than 80% (1,300 m2) of the gigantic 1,600 m2 carpet will be made up of different colours and varieties of fresh dahlias. Grown in Belgium, the dahlia is both a robust and decorative flower, with millions of them used on the floats at the Loenhout floral parade. The 72nd edition of this floral parade will take place on 8 September. The 2023 edition attracted no fewer than 17,000 visitors who came to admire 32 floats covered in a total of 4 million dahlias!
For the organisers, the change of flower was an ideal opportunity to rejuvenate the carpet's image, by proposing a design that departed from the usual codes of previous editions, in order to attract a new audience, while retaining its loyal followers.
Until now, the Flower Carpet motif has been linked to a cultural event, the guest country of honour or an anniversary. Rhizome has been specially and uniquely designed for the Flower Carpet. It's a nod to Brussels and Art Nouveau, as well as a tip of the hat to Street Art, youth and Surrealism.
It was designed by Océane Cornille, a street artist from Liège. After studying graphic design at the École Supérieure des Arts de Saint-Luc in Liège, Océane adopted the pseudonym 'Whoups'. She uses the movements of plants as a metaphor for human subjects.
"In my artistic approach, I draw inspiration from the concept of the plant rhizome to express the complexity and interconnectedness of Brussels. 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. 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," the artist explains.
