Brussels 40 - Clonakilty 400 - An Art Nouveau Exhibition

“Brussels 40 - Clonakilty 400 Exhibition” offers an overview of Art Nouveau style in Europe from late 19th till early 20th century. The Belgian floral inspired curved lines were not a common European trend. Influenced by taste and culture, each European city developed variant Art Nouveau style, some more floral some more geometric. This exhibition aims to demonstrate the Art Nouveau style diversity in Europe through decorative and architectural details. For this project the students were inspired by how iron, a rough and functional material, took an aesthetic dimension during the Art Nouveau movement. Actualising to a modern material, they used cardboard giving it a new aesthetic and functional definition. By this, another societal trend was highlighted, recycling, since all the boxes came from previous exhibitions. The wall by the superposition of boxes and its openings reminds the facades exposed with their windows and structure. By giving a second life to these cardboard boxes that have traveled from exhibition to exhibition, stirring up curiosity, a dynamic wall stands before the visitor to make him discover an overview of Art Nouveau style diversity in Europe. Celebrating Ireland’s 40 years EU membership, the relationship with Brussels the EU capital and the 400th anniversary of Clonakilty Town’s foundation, this exhibition symbolises the beginning of cultural exchange projects between Brussels and Cork.