Imagine building and furnishing an entire room on a single tile. You don’t have to since ceramics giant Mahgoub has already executed this unlikely concept, tapping visual artists Dina and Noha Bahr to create unique pieces of art in the form of diminutive room models on tiles.

Staff Writer

Feb 11, 2016

Mahgoub's Creative New Campaign: Art On A Tile

Until very recently, flooring was looked down upon as a purely functional aspect of real estate serving no ornamental or artistic purpose whatsoever. This notion is slowly changing with this practical detail becoming more and more of an aesthetic one complementing a room’s design.

In an industry characterised by a lack of imagination, ceramic and porcelain giant Mahgoub is one of the few players to catch up with the evolution of the craft, and for their latest campaign are transforming the flooring material to a piece of art fitted on a tile.Visual artists Noha and Dina Bahr were entrusted with the task of bringing Mahgoub’s unique tile designs to life. Imagine building and furnishing an entire room on a single tile. You don’t have to; the Bahr sisters have already executed this unlikely concept, putting in countless hours of meticulous handiwork. “The concept was to create a miniaturised living room and bedroom on the ceramic tile, the project is to get an entire scale model of a home done,” Dina explains.English Literature major turned graphic designer turned art director Noha Bahr has had to paint on miniature canvasses to produce the tiny paintings. Once an architect by profession, now art director Dina Bahr was tasked with the visualisation of the project and every little piece of material set to go on that tile. “We were going to do it with Legos or building blocks, but Dina decided to use real everyday materials because it would give better results, visually. And since she used to be an architect, she had no problem imagining it,” Noha tells us. You would surprised what the girls made do with to create a spot-on scale model. “The materials we used were foam, wood, cloth, fiber, cotton, colours, stencil, modeling clay, ceramic paste, real flowers, plants, lots of paper and ceramic tiles,” Dina elaborates. Once the conceptualisation and visualisation were out of the way, the sisters were finally free to do what they do best; execute mind blowing concepts while relishing every moment of the process. “It was really fun working on this project - we love making things with our own hands from scratch and imaging suitable uses and decoration ideas for a space,” Dina said. “Figuring out the material you are going to use and how it is going to turn out, and what colours to use and how to structure it, it’s very enjoyable,” Noha adds. The sisters’ love for the craft shines through not only their creation, but also their commitment and work ethics. “We really love details, so we can work on little things for hours, like people would come up to us and ask ‘you guys added a soap?’ We really did, we even put little tiny fruits and fruit plates. Other people would find it boring but we really enjoy it,” Noha says. “It actually took us days to do it; each room took us 2 days of constant nonstop work,” Dina remarks.It wasn’t all fun and games since they are, after all, sisters. There is bound to be some head-butting, but the unusually talented siblings managed to reconcile their artistic differences. Once thing they saw eye to eye on, however, was what they liked both about the project. “Nobody is telling you what to do, aside from the concept nobody interferes with how we do things or with our art, so you can really let your imagination run with you!” Dina says smiling.