Wellington, New Zealand – TO New Zealand The flag printed with the words “Ple
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said Thursday that he had eliminated the work of the artist Maorí Diane Prince due to increasing tensions and security fears. The episode reflected the elimination of an Auckland gallery of work in the midst of a public reaction and complaints to the police in 1995.
This time, the flag was intended to remain on display for five months. On the other hand, it lasted only 19 days, reviving long -standing debates in New Zealand on artistic expression, national symbols and the country’s colonial history.
Police told The Associated Press on Friday that the officers were investigating “several” complaints about the exhibition.
The piece, titled Flaging The Future, is a New Zealand fabric flag that is shown on the floor with the words “Please, walk on me”, put on foot. The flag presents British Union Jack and Red Stars on a blue background.
The work was part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: activist artist, and was destined to cause reflection on Maori experience since the colonization of New Zealand by Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Prince created the article in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Maori tribes for the theft of historical lands.
“I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag,” Prince told Radio New Zealand in 2024. “I don’t call myself a Neozygy. My name is Maorí.”
Prince could not be contacted immediately to comment on Friday.
New Zealand calculate with its colonial past It has accumulated rhythm in recent decades. But there has been little appetite between the successive governments to cut the remaining constitutional ties of the country with Great Britain or Change the flag to a design that does not present the union Jack.
New Zealand is among the countries where the deep of the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law. Damaging a flag in public with the intention of dishonoring it is punishable with a fine of up to $ 5,000 from New Zealand ($ 2,984), but prosecutions are fleetingly rare.
As in him USA And elsewhere, the country’s flag is synonymous with some with military service. But for others, particularly some Maori, it is a reminder of land dispossession and the loss of culture and identity.
The protests of the work of art in the city of Nelson, a population of 55,000, included videos published on the social networks of a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the Maori Battalion of the Army during World War II. In a clip, it is seen raising the flag of the floor and wrapping it on another work of art, a Tipu action said it would repeat daily.
A group of veterans also denounced the piece as “shameful” and “offensive.” The city council member, Tim Skinner, said he was “horrified” for the inclusion of work.
But others welcomed him. Nelson’s vice mayor, Rohan O’Neill-Stevens, published on social networks “in a strong defense of artistic expression and the right for all of us to be challenged and confronted by art.”
Perhaps the work was expected to cause controversy and on the opening days of the exhibition, the Suter gallery defended its inclusion. But a statement on his Facebook page on Thursday night said that “a strong escalation in the tone and nature of the speech, moving far beyond the limits of the respectful debate” had caused the elimination of the flag.
“This should not be interpreted as a judgment on the artist’s work or intention,” said the statement. The gallery did not detail specific concern incidents and a gallery spokesman did not respond to an request for an interview on Friday.
New Zealand police said in a statement on Friday that while the officers were investigating the complaints, they were not called to any disturbance in the exhibition. Prince said when he relived the work in 2024 that the threats of prosecution by the police caused their elimination of the Auckland gallery in 1995.
The Nelson Gallery did not suggest in its statement that police participation had influenced Thursday’s decision.
