One of the biggest murals in Europe is being created on the facade of a cardboard factory along the Zenne between Lembeek and Halle in Flemish Brabant and is set to be unveiled in early July.
The 2,000 square-metres fresco is being created by Treepack, a collective of artists who specialise in decorating public places. Work on the mural was started this week with the help of Russian artists Gooze and Bozik, two big names in the world of street art.
The cardboard factory had already agreed to the mural last year, but the project had to be postponed due to the coronavirus crisis and the travel restrictions, which prevented the two Russian artists from travelling to Belgium, but as restrictions were recently lifted, they were able to travel and start working on the mural.
The fresco, to be named “Het Betoverde Bos” (“The enchanted forest” in English), will tell the story of a boy and girl in Halle who see more and more garbage each day as they walk along the river Zenne.
As part of the story, the girl starts using bits of waste to fashion a little bird like one she saw drinking water from the riverbank. The boy soon follows suit and, as the days go by, more and more animals appear along the riverbank, which as a result becomes much cleaner.
Treepack and Halle hope the mural, that is part of a wider project initiated by the city, will raise awareness of the neighbourhood's beauty through which the river passes and to show that street art has a place in the public space.
"We’re working hard to improve the landscape and the area around the Zenne Valley," Mayor of Halle Marc Snoeck said.
"In Halle we have been focussing for some time now on graffiti, so this fresco ties in perfectly with our aims and will contribute to the city’s development," he added.
The Brussels Times
