Located in the municipality of Ixelles/Elsene, “L’Arche/De Ark” by François Schuiten and Alexandre Obolensky is a wall painting illustrating the city of tomorrow, a sustainable and humane city. With this work of art, project initiator Atrium Flagey wanted to embellish the commercial neighbourhood and at the same time increase its general appeal. “The Arch/De Ark” invites us on a journey through the streets and alleys of Ixelles/Elsene.
The fresco stays true to François Schuiten’s typical style: a gigantic imaginary but at the same time familiar steamship. This monumental piece was first drawn and painted on canvas and later, i.e. in 2013, applied on the façade. In 2014, “L’Arche/De Ark” is completed by a soundtrack.
Passers-by can scan the nearby QR code and then land on a website which not only provides additional information on how the work was made but also a larger-than-life soundtrack complete with seagulls crying, steamships hooting and passengers talking... All it’s missing is a faint salty breeze...