BA (Hons) Visual Communication student Elise Berdah recently attended the grand opening of the multi-million pound new Leeds Market development to see her design covering one of the huge walls of the building’s interior.
Parisian born Elise came to Leeds College of Art last October for a four month Erasmus exchange from ESAA Duperre and enjoyed it so much she stayed for the entire year. In April this year, she won a competition organised by the Visual Communication programme to create an artwork for the new Leeds Market food hall.
Her design entitled ‘Chaleur Humaine’ (Human Warmth) has been reproduced as a 22 metre long mural, which dominates the busy and colourful new building.
On the panel next to the work she explains its origins:
“After a few days spent in the market, exploring and talking to people, I felt touched by the human warmth of the place. The sense that everyone is welcome here. People are coming and meeting from all over Leeds and beyond. My design represents the market as the ‘heart’ of the city, at the centre of a giant network of connections stretching across Yorkshire.”
