News
Wednesday 19 December 2007
Art students giving Belgian hotel botanical makeover
A top hotel in Belgium is well on the way to being given a funky new makeover also thanks to the efforts of a group of Nottingham Trent University fine art students. Almost 100 rooms of the hotel BLOOM! in Brussels have been brightened up as part of a major European project to give guests a more relaxing and refreshing stay.
The students have been taking part in the Bloom! project, which challenges them to create a mural painting for each of the hotel’s 306 rooms. They have been using the theme ‘bloom’ to generate a stunning array of colourful designs ranging from floral creations to more conceptual pieces.
Creations from the University’s School of Art and Design students have included a pixelated picture of a flower using about 6,000 stamps, a dramatic black and red painting which incorporated flowers into a human face, and an image using pearlised materials which move and change with the light of the room.
As part of the project’s pilot, a group of ten MA Fine Art students from Nottingham travelled to the hotel to paint a room each. As a result, one – Sandrea Simons – was chosen to be a student coordinator to oversee the project and help students from other countries. She will continue to travel to Brussels until the end of 2008 when the project is complete and all the rooms have been painted.
Institutions from more than 30 European countries have so far been invited to take part by project organisers the European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA).
Sandrea Simons, whose own design incorporated images of body parts, insects, flowers and fruit, said: “Bloom! has been an amazing bonding experience and a great opportunity to use our skills to fulfil a project brief. Seeing what students from other countries have brought to the project has been particularly rewarding and we’re really looking forward to seeing what emerges over the coming year.”
Carol Jones, Academic Team Leader for MA Programmes at Nottingham Trent University, said: “I was not surprised that our students made this project such a success. We always insist on a high level of professional behaviour and understanding, particularly when liaising with prestigious clients such as this.
“More importantly, our MA students are committed to international relations because we value the global nature of the creative arts industries. The visual arts can reach beyond national boundaries and across cultural differences and the students’ achievements with this project prove that. We are delighted to have participated in this European initiative and to have been able to give our students a marvellous working experience through our membership with ELIA.”
Albert Schaaphok, the Concept Creator of the Bloom! project said the work had been created by young artists and students from the best art and fine art institutions across Europe, and the aim was to display it to as many art lovers as possible.
ENDS
Notes for editors: ELIA is an independent membership organisation founded in 1990 which represents approximately 350 higher arts education institutions from more than 45 countries. Through its members, ELIA represents unique bodies of knowledge and facilitates dialogues, mobility and activities between artists, teachers, administrators, senior managers, key decision makers and more than 250,000 students.
The Bloom! project is open to ELIA member institutions.
For more information on ELIA visit their website.
Press enquiries please contact: Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on +44 (0)115 848 8782, or email dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk, or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on +44 (0)115 848 8774, or email therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.
