white flag, 27. jan
white flag, 27. january, installation, exhibitions view, cotton, wood, thread, sweat, 2008
For the exhibition Call And Response, African traditional art meets contemporary art.
For three consecutive nights, I wrapped myself in the white fabric of this flag to compel in my sleep an end to war and senseless death. This flag captures memories, wrinkles, and my perspiration – like the sweat the African masks must hold after a trancelike state induced by a ritual dance. The white flag is my personal response – a trying to create peace.
This work referred to the happenings during the days before January 27. 2008, the wars in Kenya and Iraq and any kind of violence and senseless death such as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto or state sanctioned killing. In the name of the state, wars are declared and people are executed. A flag is the symbol of the power of a state. In Germany during the time of the Nazis, many people were killed in the name of the state. At that time it was a flag with a swastika. These days we don’t often observe German flags. For me and many other Germans, it creates an uneasy feeling.
White flag, 27. january