In Brussels, the Grand-Place has been transformed in recent days into a visual spectacle: a massive floral reinterpretation of Katsushika Hokusai\u2019s *The Great Wave off Kanagawa*. The work, created by Japanese artist Hiro Sugiyama and the Enlightenment collective, is the centerpiece of the 24th edition of Brussels\u2019 famous Flower Carpet and celebrates 160 years of diplomatic relations and friendship between Belgium and Japan. <\/p>\n
The starting point, therefore, is *The Great Wave off Kanagawa*, created by Hokusai in the 1830s as part of the famous series *Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji*. Now one of the most recognizable images of Japanese art worldwide, the work depicts a massive wave about to crash down on several boats, with Mount Fuji in the background: an image in which the force of nature and human fragility coexist in a subtle and magnificent visual balance, which has now become a universal symbol. For this occasion, Hiro Sugiyama has reinterpreted this masterpiece of art history through a contemporary lens. The original composition has been transformed into an immense floral installation, retaining the scene\u2019s most recognizable elements but reinterpreting them through a new color palette\u2014in shades of pink and yellow\u2014and a more contemporary visual rhythm, as Sugiyama himself described the project: a synthesis of past and future, analog and digital, Japanese culture and contemporary art. The result spans 1,680 square meters, measuring 70 meters by 24, and is composed of over 700,000 flowers, primarily dahlias. The decision to use flowers that are particularly heat-resistant is also linked to the high summer temperatures: over 500,000 dahlias were used in the composition, along with other plant elements such as begonias, grass, and bark. <\/p>\n
The project required months of planning. Sugiyama worked on the design for about eight months, initially envisioning a composition featuring a broader color palette. Due to time constraints, the project was then adapted to a palette of 16 colors\u2014a choice the artist initially viewed as a challenge but which, once the flowers were arranged, helped define the work\u2019s final impact. The composition was then assembled directly on the Grand-Place by over a hundred volunteers, who manually arranged the flowers according to a numbered diagram. The installation was created on August 13, 2026, and remained on display until August 16, transforming the historic heart of Brussels into a gigantic ephemeral work of art for four days. <\/p>\n
At the heart of the project is Hiro Sugiyama, an artist and professor at Kyoto University of the Arts. After co-founding the Enlightenment art collective and working with digital technologies, Sugiyama has focused primarily on analog painting since 2010, exhibiting his works in various countries. For the Flower Carpet, he drew on his exploration of the intersection between analog and digital to give new form to one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese culture. The choice of Hokusai also holds special significance within the 2026 edition of the Flower Carpet. Japan\u2019s return to the event comes ten years after its first collaboration in 2016, when the country had already been a featured guest at the event. This year\u2019s edition thus celebrates 160 years of friendship between Belgium and Japan, creating a new cultural dialogue through floral art. <\/p>\n
The Flower Carpet, which began in 1971 and is held every two years, is by its very nature a temporary work: after just a few days, the floral carpet is dismantled and disappears. It is precisely this ephemeral nature that makes the reinterpretation of *The Great Wave* even more unique: an image created nearly two centuries ago through woodblock printing is now transformed into a monumental work made up of thousands of natural elements, destined to exist for only a few days. From print to flowers, from physical matter to organic element\u2014and thus ephemeral: the work embodies fundamental elements of artistic practice that have always made any form of creativity incredibly precious. <\/p>\n
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