Put out more flags

‘Put Out More Flags’. A thought-provoking collection of works by University of Tasmania students, curated by Tamila Shakhmuradova.

This exhibition consists of a collection of flags created by:

Amelia Anne-Munro
Angela Anderson
Tilly Massie
Eden Spinks
Holly Clark-Milligan
Jan Larcombe
Lou-anne Barker
Tash Bradley-Cross
Chloe Catto

CUrated by: Tamila Shakhmuradova

Exhibition Opening
Saturday 8 October 4-6pm

The Barracks Arts Centre
The Avenue, New Norfolk | Get Directions

Gallery Open
Saturdays & Sundays 11am—4pm

In short, flags are complicated. They set out improbable and often contradictory ideas. The Australian flag marks out a real set of territories, but also marks out embassies and consulates all over the world – invented places called ‘Australia’ that are neither a real territory nor imagined space. When worn as a cape or carried as a passport it defines an individual wherever they are, a little bit of Oz wherever we go.

Flags continue to signal an occupancy of a place, of ideas, of people, and identity. Some flags – the United Nations or Red Cross – represent ideas. Others – such as the Rainbow Flag or the Aboriginal Flag – represent a collection of peoples that are not tied to a particular place, but to stories of liberation, oppression, and survival. Some flags start life as a signal of revolution – the Tricolour or Stars and Stripes – others as a signal of control.

The brief here is for the artist to mark out their own occupancy, whether of place, people, individual or collectives. Whether it be a big idea or a small space to call one’s own, each flag is an attempt to convey a set of contradictions that are contained within its stitches, collages, its colours, and its use. It can be performed — and all flags should be performed — or made tangible in any material and media. And whilst some might be radical re-inventions, others might tell a story no less important in its intimacy.

Find your flag and fly it.