The Art of Floral Design: Art Basel 2019 Recap

The Art of Floral Design: Art Basel 2019 Recap

In late November of 2019, we were approached by “Flowers of Colombia” to participate in a “VIP” floral pop-up lounge at the Perez Art Museum in Miami for Art Basel 2019. We were excited at the chance to showcase our beautiful, grown to last Colombian products. The pop-up lounge consisted of a flower wall, a beautiful floral installation above the bar, floral arrangements throughout the lounge and even ready-to-go bouquets for museum patrons.

After the event, we spoke with “Flowers of Colombia” to talk about the concept and to get more insight on why they believe it is important to participate in cultural events such as Art Basel!

Golden Flowers (GF): How did Flowers of Colombia get involved with the Perez Art Museum for Art Basel? 

Flowers of Colombia (FC): When a brand has a clear strategy and a vision of the kind of audience that it wants to penetrate, it becomes easy to look for the right places or projects to showcase its products and generate inspiring experiences.

The Perez Art Museum was looking for a strategic partner in decorating the space. The museum was thrilled and surprised to see how our involvement (Flowers of Colombia and Asocolflores) and the presence of our flowers brought such an engaging and successful experience for all.

GF: Why did Flowers of Colombia want to participate in an Art Basel event?

FC: Art, lifestyle and fashion are part of the world of flowers. Art Basel is an event that includes all the possibilities… artist, decision makers, influencers, media and of course flower lovers. Art Basel was the perfect place to showcase the work of art that is Flowers of Colombia.  

GF: How was the design process for creating the flower wall and flower installation? What did you want to showcase?

FC: This was a bit of a challenge. It was a bit difficult to determine the color palette because we relied on the donations of our members (farms and distributors such as Golden Flowers). We were able to hire a fantastic floral designer with more than 20 years of experience, Juan Carlos Semidey. He not only had exceptional and creative vision but was also extremely organized and was able to create a delicate palette from all of the donations we received. For the full installations, we had more than 15,000 stems of flowers and greens that reflected the diversity, beauty and sophistication of the Colombian Flowers. 

GF: Why did you think it was important to showcase Colombian flowers at this event? What do flowers of Colombia represent for the world? Why are they unique?

FC: Colombia is usually represented by coffee or fruits so we wanted to showcase something beautiful, fresh and different. To our industry, the Colombian flower industry, it was important to deliver something different and exciting to our #1 market in the world (the US). We wanted to create a different perspective, and positively inspire the people that visited our installations.

Flowers of Colombia represents the most beautiful and diverse spirit of our country. As a product, our flowers represent some of the values we believe in as a country: joy, care and passion.

When we started the process of creating the brand “Flowers of Colombia” with the Asocolflores Marketing Committee, we found a connection with the delicate and almost feminine features of art and beauty. This is not to say that men can’t enjoy these qualities as well, but when you identify your brand features, it is easier to create a voice for your products. In this case, Flowers of Colombia represents the spirit of the Colombian woman—strong, resilient, happy and sweet. Flowers of Colombia is unique for what and who it represents. 

GF: At Golden Flowers, we talk about how we help people express feelings with flowers. How do you think that correlates with Flowers of Colombia’s mission? 

FC: Flowers of Colombia is diversity that inspires. Expressing your feelings with flowers takes creativity, inspiration and authenticity. When someone has a true, positive experience with flowers, they usually want to share it friends and family! Expressing these positive feelings with flowers and seeing how these products represent diversity that inspires make both of these concepts part of the same world.

GF: Talk to us a little bit about the experience of handing out bouquets during the 3 days of the installation…what were some of the reactions you saw? What did people say? How did you feel about being a part of these interactions?

FC: People were really surprise about the origin of the flowers, they couldn’t believe how beautiful and strong our flowers are. In addition, people were absolutely happy, you could see their smiles and faces full of joy. It was great to see how they wanted to be photographed with their bouquets and share on social media.

We also had a great photobooth set up in front of the flower wall. On the last night, during the party, the line for the photobooth was longer than the line at the bar. When people rather take pictures in front of our beautiful floral creation than get a glass of wine, we knew this activation was a success!