Smurfit Kappa transforms corrugated boxes into art

Smurfit Kappa has worked with an artist on two eye-catching and creative installations in the Netherlands and Scotland.

The first piece that artist Olivier Grossetête worked on was for ‘Deventer op Stelten’, an outdoor theatre festival to mark the 1250th birthday of the town of Deventer in the Netherlands. His brief was to recreate the Lebuinuschurch, which is an ancient church in Deventer dating back to 768 AD.

Three Smurfit Kappa plants, Zedek, Van Dam and Vandra, collaborated with the artist to design and build two huge towers of over 20 metres in height and provide the 4000 corrugated boxes needed for the structure.

Smurfit Kappa employees and customers then joined over 2000 local residents and visitors at the festival to build the impressive church which weighed over 4250kg.

The second collaboration with Grossetête was a recreation of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate in Glasgow to celebrate the 2018 European Athletics Championship which were co-hosted by both cities last week.

Smurfit Kappa’s Tannochside Plant donated the 1600 boxes which were used to create the huge arch at Glasgow Green. The gate took five days to build and over 450 people came together to assemble it.

 

Speaking about the initiatives, Smurfit Kappa CEO of Europe, Saverio Mayer said: “Smurfit Kappa has a strong tradition of supporting events in the communities in which it operates.

“It was a very rewarding experience to collaborate with such a talented artist to bring these breath-taking and important cultural pieces to life.”

The sustainable nature of the corrugated board used to build both pieces facilitated quick and easy recycling once they were dismantled.