In Brussels’ iconic Grand-Place, a summer tradition literally blossoms in monumental style. The city’s Flower Carpet event, which this year celebrated its 24th edition, celebrates art, community, and diplomacy in the heart of Belgium’s capital, which is also the hub of the European Union. From August 13 to 16, the event marked 160 years of friendship between the nation and Japan, inviting artist Hiro Sugiyama to design a city square-sized composition, which he conceived as a tribute to ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai.
Titled “Neo Hokusai,” the monumental arrangement comprised more than 750,000 fresh dahlias, covering nearly 14,000 square feet. Framed with ornate patterns, the reimagining of the famous woodblock print “The Great Wave Off Kanagawa,” from Hokusai’s series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (1830-1832), glows in bright magenta, vermilion, and yellow. Flowers covered about 80 percent of the entire design.
Dahlias aren’t the only species artists choose to use for the carpet, although the 2024 edition also incorporated the voluminous blossoms. In 2018, a design highlighting the central Mexican region of Guanajuato grew out of one million begonias and was captured in an aerial timelapse by Joerg Daiber.
This year, the dahlias are sourced in partnership with Bloemencorso Loenhout, a giant flower parade that has been running for three quarters of a century in the northern city of Loenhout. This year, the event kicks off on September 12.
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