Jacques Nimki

Royal Florilegium, 2013

Vinyl
Neo Natal Department, 6th Floor, Royal London Hospital

Vital Arts commissioned Jacques Nimki to develop a site-specific artwork to run throughout the Paediatrics A&E Service of the old Royal London Hospital, the busiest acute hospital in London, as well as several areas of the new building. Working in close consultation with clinical staff and young patients, Nimki devised a project that aimed to bring the ‘outside in’. The artist works with plants that are found in the urban environment – the overlooked signs of life trampled underfoot. For this commission, he spent months building an inventory and researching the weeds and wild flowers found growing all around the hospital and the local area. His commission celebrates the simple beauty of these wild plants, urging visitors to notice the poetry latent in the everyday.

As an extension to this project, Nimki also created a perfume from the wildflowers that grow around the Royal London Hospital. Entitled A&E, the delicate fragrance is made of Gallant Soldier, Chickweed, Geranium Robertianum, among others found around the Whitechapel site.

Photography by Jess Bonham