Bulgari Hotel London announces collaboration with artist Yinka Ilori
This September Bulgari Hotel London will launch a collaboration with acclaimed multidisciplinary artist and designer Yinka Ilori in celebration of its 10th year in London.
Acclaimed artist and designer Yinka Ilori is teaming up with London’s illustrious Bulgari Hotel to celebrate the luxury venue’s 10th anniversary, putting his contemporary twist on the hotel’s afternoon tea as well as visually taking over the building’s Knightsbridge façade.
Yinka, who is at the cutting edge of art and design in the UK right now, will be applying his bold and colourful vision to the five-star contemporary Italian hotel in the exciting collaboration, dubbed Yinka Ilori X Bulgari Hotel London.
The launch of the afternoon tea on Friday 16th September coincides with the opening of London-based British-Nigerian artist Yinka’s first show at the Design Museum and on the eve of the London Design Festival.
For the Bulgari Hotel’s afternoon tea, pastries inspired by Yinka’s iconic anniversary designs for the hotel are being created in collaboration with the artist by award-winning, world-famous Italian pastry chef and chocolatier-in-residence, Gianluca Fusto.
Yinka has also redesigned the afternoon tea serving stand as a sculptural work of art, while his window façade for the hotel featuring his humorous, provocative and playfully eye-popping geometric designs will be instantly recognisable.
The Yinka Ilori X Bulgari Hotel London pastries meanwhile will feature autumnal combinations of Italian dried fruit with almond, pistachio, hazelnut and peanut and the resulting sweet treats, which will include choux buns and biscuits, are designed to complement the bold geometry and contemporary colours of Yinka’s tea stands.
Yinka, who studied furniture and product design at London Metropolitan University, has a strong belief that art and design should be accessible to all. His projects often convey joy and optimism and demonstrate how design can encourage a sense of community and have a positive impact on society. In one of his recent works, he transformed street crossings on Tottenham Court Road with murals in his signature colours and patterns.
Yinka’s work has also been showcased globally through solo and group exhibitions, public commissions and set and exhibition design. His work is inspired by the West African fabrics and fables he grew up with in his Nigerian household in North London. It spans furniture, sculpture, interiors, architectural installations such as Laundrette of Dreams, which was built from more than 200,000 Lego bricks and designed through workshops with primary schools in east London, and street art. Earlier this year, on top of collaborations with the likes of Lego and Superblue, he was appointed Courvoisier’s first “ambassador of joy.”
The Yinka Ilori X Bulgari Hotel London Afternoon Tea will be available via advance bookings only, at £95 per person. A limited edition run of 200 Yinka Ilori x Bulgari Hotel London napkin sets, priced at £180 for four 50x50 cm napkins, will also be available to buy both at the Bulgari Hotel London and online through the hotel’s gift shop.
Yinka’s free exhibition Parables For Happiness meanwhile, his first institutional solo show, opens at The Design Museum in London on 15th September and runs until 25th June next year.