NZ gallery removes controversial flag walking artwork
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said on Thursday it had removed the work by Māori artist Diane Prince due to escalating tensions and safety fears.
The episode mirrored an Auckland gallery's removal of the work amid public backlash and complaints to law enforcement in 1995.
This time, the flag was meant to remain on display for five months.
Instead, it lasted just 19 days, reigniting long-running debates in New Zealand over artistic expression, national symbols and the country's colonial history.
The piece, titled Flagging the Future, is a cloth New Zealand flag displayed on the floor with the words "please walk on me" stencilled across it.
The flag features the British Union Jack and red stars on a blue background.
The work is part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: Activist Artist, and was meant to provoke reflection on the Māori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century.
Prince created the piece in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Māori tribes for historical land theft.
"I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag," Prince told Radio New Zealand in 2024.
"I don't call myself a New Zealander. I call myself a Māori."
Prince couldn't be reached immediately for comment Friday.
New Zealand's reckoning with its colonial past has gathered pace in recent decades.
But there has been little appetite among successive governments to sever the country's remaining constitutional ties to Britain or change the flag to a design that doesn't feature the Union Jack.
New Zealand is among countries where desecrating the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law.
Damaging a flag in public with the intent to dishonour it is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 New Zealand dollars ($A4,641), but prosecutions are fleetingly rare.
As in the United States and elsewhere, the country's flag is synonymous for some with military service.
But for others, particularly some Māori, it's a reminder of land dispossession and loss of culture and identity.
Protests of the artwork in the city of Nelson, population 55,000, included videos posted to social media by a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the army's Māori Battalion during World War II.
In one clip, she is seen lifting the flag from the floor and draping it over another artwork, an action Tipu said she would repeat daily.
A veterans' group also denounced the piece as shameful and offensive.
City council member Tim Skinner said he was horrified by the work's inclusion.
But others welcomed it.
Nelson's deputy mayor, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, posted on social media: "in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art."
The work was perhaps expected to provoke controversy and in the exhibition's opening days, The Suter Gallery defended its inclusion.
But a statement on its Facebook page late Thursday said a "sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate" had prompted the flag's removal.
"This should not be interpreted as a judgement on the artwork or the artist's intent," the statement said.
The gallery didn't detail specific incidents of concern and a gallery spokesperson didn't respond to a request for an interview on Friday.
New Zealand's Police said in a statement Friday that while officers were investigating complaints, they weren't called to any disturbances at the exhibition.
Prince said when she revived the work in 2024 that threats of prosecution by law enforcement had prompted its removal from the Auckland gallery in 1995.
The Nelson gallery didn't suggest in its statement that police involvement had influenced Thursday's decision.
A New Zealand flag printed with the words "please walk on me" and laid on the floor of an art gallery has once again been packed away following public outcry, 30 years after protests forced the removal of the same artwork.
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said on Thursday it had removed the work by Māori artist Diane Prince due to escalating tensions and safety fears.
The episode mirrored an Auckland gallery's removal of the work amid public backlash and complaints to law enforcement in 1995.
This time, the flag was meant to remain on display for five months.
Instead, it lasted just 19 days, reigniting long-running debates in New Zealand over artistic expression, national symbols and the country's colonial history.
The piece, titled Flagging the Future, is a cloth New Zealand flag displayed on the floor with the words "please walk on me" stencilled across it.
The flag features the British Union Jack and red stars on a blue background.
The work is part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: Activist Artist, and was meant to provoke reflection on the Māori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century.
Prince created the piece in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Māori tribes for historical land theft.
"I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag," Prince told Radio New Zealand in 2024.
"I don't call myself a New Zealander. I call myself a Māori."
Prince couldn't be reached immediately for comment Friday.
New Zealand's reckoning with its colonial past has gathered pace in recent decades.
But there has been little appetite among successive governments to sever the country's remaining constitutional ties to Britain or change the flag to a design that doesn't feature the Union Jack.
New Zealand is among countries where desecrating the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law.
Damaging a flag in public with the intent to dishonour it is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 New Zealand dollars ($A4,641), but prosecutions are fleetingly rare.
As in the United States and elsewhere, the country's flag is synonymous for some with military service.
But for others, particularly some Māori, it's a reminder of land dispossession and loss of culture and identity.
Protests of the artwork in the city of Nelson, population 55,000, included videos posted to social media by a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the army's Māori Battalion during World War II.
In one clip, she is seen lifting the flag from the floor and draping it over another artwork, an action Tipu said she would repeat daily.
A veterans' group also denounced the piece as shameful and offensive.
City council member Tim Skinner said he was horrified by the work's inclusion.
But others welcomed it.
Nelson's deputy mayor, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, posted on social media: "in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art."
The work was perhaps expected to provoke controversy and in the exhibition's opening days, The Suter Gallery defended its inclusion.
But a statement on its Facebook page late Thursday said a "sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate" had prompted the flag's removal.
"This should not be interpreted as a judgement on the artwork or the artist's intent," the statement said.
The gallery didn't detail specific incidents of concern and a gallery spokesperson didn't respond to a request for an interview on Friday.
New Zealand's Police said in a statement Friday that while officers were investigating complaints, they weren't called to any disturbances at the exhibition.
Prince said when she revived the work in 2024 that threats of prosecution by law enforcement had prompted its removal from the Auckland gallery in 1995.
The Nelson gallery didn't suggest in its statement that police involvement had influenced Thursday's decision.
A New Zealand flag printed with the words "please walk on me" and laid on the floor of an art gallery has once again been packed away following public outcry, 30 years after protests forced the removal of the same artwork.
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said on Thursday it had removed the work by Māori artist Diane Prince due to escalating tensions and safety fears.
The episode mirrored an Auckland gallery's removal of the work amid public backlash and complaints to law enforcement in 1995.
This time, the flag was meant to remain on display for five months.
Instead, it lasted just 19 days, reigniting long-running debates in New Zealand over artistic expression, national symbols and the country's colonial history.
The piece, titled Flagging the Future, is a cloth New Zealand flag displayed on the floor with the words "please walk on me" stencilled across it.
The flag features the British Union Jack and red stars on a blue background.
The work is part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: Activist Artist, and was meant to provoke reflection on the Māori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century.
Prince created the piece in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Māori tribes for historical land theft.
"I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag," Prince told Radio New Zealand in 2024.
"I don't call myself a New Zealander. I call myself a Māori."
Prince couldn't be reached immediately for comment Friday.
New Zealand's reckoning with its colonial past has gathered pace in recent decades.
But there has been little appetite among successive governments to sever the country's remaining constitutional ties to Britain or change the flag to a design that doesn't feature the Union Jack.
New Zealand is among countries where desecrating the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law.
Damaging a flag in public with the intent to dishonour it is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 New Zealand dollars ($A4,641), but prosecutions are fleetingly rare.
As in the United States and elsewhere, the country's flag is synonymous for some with military service.
But for others, particularly some Māori, it's a reminder of land dispossession and loss of culture and identity.
Protests of the artwork in the city of Nelson, population 55,000, included videos posted to social media by a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the army's Māori Battalion during World War II.
In one clip, she is seen lifting the flag from the floor and draping it over another artwork, an action Tipu said she would repeat daily.
A veterans' group also denounced the piece as shameful and offensive.
City council member Tim Skinner said he was horrified by the work's inclusion.
But others welcomed it.
Nelson's deputy mayor, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, posted on social media: "in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art."
The work was perhaps expected to provoke controversy and in the exhibition's opening days, The Suter Gallery defended its inclusion.
But a statement on its Facebook page late Thursday said a "sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate" had prompted the flag's removal.
"This should not be interpreted as a judgement on the artwork or the artist's intent," the statement said.
The gallery didn't detail specific incidents of concern and a gallery spokesperson didn't respond to a request for an interview on Friday.
New Zealand's Police said in a statement Friday that while officers were investigating complaints, they weren't called to any disturbances at the exhibition.
Prince said when she revived the work in 2024 that threats of prosecution by law enforcement had prompted its removal from the Auckland gallery in 1995.
The Nelson gallery didn't suggest in its statement that police involvement had influenced Thursday's decision.
A New Zealand flag printed with the words "please walk on me" and laid on the floor of an art gallery has once again been packed away following public outcry, 30 years after protests forced the removal of the same artwork.
The Suter Art Gallery in the city of Nelson said on Thursday it had removed the work by Māori artist Diane Prince due to escalating tensions and safety fears.
The episode mirrored an Auckland gallery's removal of the work amid public backlash and complaints to law enforcement in 1995.
This time, the flag was meant to remain on display for five months.
Instead, it lasted just 19 days, reigniting long-running debates in New Zealand over artistic expression, national symbols and the country's colonial history.
The piece, titled Flagging the Future, is a cloth New Zealand flag displayed on the floor with the words "please walk on me" stencilled across it.
The flag features the British Union Jack and red stars on a blue background.
The work is part of an exhibition, Diane Prince: Activist Artist, and was meant to provoke reflection on the Māori experience since New Zealand's colonisation by Britain in the 19th century.
Prince created the piece in 1995 in response to a government policy that limited compensation to Māori tribes for historical land theft.
"I have no attachment to the New Zealand flag," Prince told Radio New Zealand in 2024.
"I don't call myself a New Zealander. I call myself a Māori."
Prince couldn't be reached immediately for comment Friday.
New Zealand's reckoning with its colonial past has gathered pace in recent decades.
But there has been little appetite among successive governments to sever the country's remaining constitutional ties to Britain or change the flag to a design that doesn't feature the Union Jack.
New Zealand is among countries where desecrating the national flag is considered taboo and prohibited by law.
Damaging a flag in public with the intent to dishonour it is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 New Zealand dollars ($A4,641), but prosecutions are fleetingly rare.
As in the United States and elsewhere, the country's flag is synonymous for some with military service.
But for others, particularly some Māori, it's a reminder of land dispossession and loss of culture and identity.
Protests of the artwork in the city of Nelson, population 55,000, included videos posted to social media by a local woman, Ruth Tipu, whose grandfather served in the army's Māori Battalion during World War II.
In one clip, she is seen lifting the flag from the floor and draping it over another artwork, an action Tipu said she would repeat daily.
A veterans' group also denounced the piece as shameful and offensive.
City council member Tim Skinner said he was horrified by the work's inclusion.
But others welcomed it.
Nelson's deputy mayor, Rohan O'Neill-Stevens, posted on social media: "in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art."
The work was perhaps expected to provoke controversy and in the exhibition's opening days, The Suter Gallery defended its inclusion.
But a statement on its Facebook page late Thursday said a "sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate" had prompted the flag's removal.
"This should not be interpreted as a judgement on the artwork or the artist's intent," the statement said.
The gallery didn't detail specific incidents of concern and a gallery spokesperson didn't respond to a request for an interview on Friday.
New Zealand's Police said in a statement Friday that while officers were investigating complaints, they weren't called to any disturbances at the exhibition.
Prince said when she revived the work in 2024 that threats of prosecution by law enforcement had prompted its removal from the Auckland gallery in 1995.
The Nelson gallery didn't suggest in its statement that police involvement had influenced Thursday's decision.
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In a pre-action letter seen by the PA news agency, lawyers for Weller say the singer-songwriter was told in March that the accountants and tax advisers would no longer work with the 67-year-old or his companies. Weller is also performing a sold out "Gig For Gaza" in London with other musicians in October. According to the letter, a WhatsApp message from a partner at the firm included the reason for severing the relationship. "It's well known what your political views are in relation to Israel, the Palestinians and Gaza, but we as a firm are offended at the assertions that Israel is committing any type of genocide," it said. "Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you are alleging such anti-Israel views that we as a firm with Jewish roots and many Jewish partners are not prepared to work with someone who holds these views." Lawyers for Weller say that by ending their services, the firm unlawfully discriminated against the singer's protected philosophical beliefs, including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Palestine should be recognised as a nation state. Weller said he had 'always spoken out against injustice, whether it's apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide". "What's happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe," he said. "I believe they have the right to self-determination, dignity, and protection under international law, and I believe Israel is committing genocide against them. That must be called out. "Silencing those who speak this truth is not just censorship - it's complicity. "I'm taking legal action not just for myself, but to help ensure that others are not similarly punished for expressing their beliefs about the rights of the Palestinian people." Weller will donate any damages he receives to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, the legal letter says. Weller's lawyer Cormac McDonough, says the case "reflects a wider pattern of attempts to silence artists and public figures who speak out in support of Palestinian rights". "Within the music industry especially, we are seeing increasing efforts to marginalise those who express solidarity with the people of Gaza," he said. Paul Weller is suing his former accountants after they stopped working with the British singer because they were offended by comments he made alleging Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. The former frontman of The Jam has filed a discrimination claim against Harris and Trotter after the firm ended their professional relationship after more than 30 years. In a pre-action letter seen by the PA news agency, lawyers for Weller say the singer-songwriter was told in March that the accountants and tax advisers would no longer work with the 67-year-old or his companies. Weller is also performing a sold out "Gig For Gaza" in London with other musicians in October. According to the letter, a WhatsApp message from a partner at the firm included the reason for severing the relationship. "It's well known what your political views are in relation to Israel, the Palestinians and Gaza, but we as a firm are offended at the assertions that Israel is committing any type of genocide," it said. "Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you are alleging such anti-Israel views that we as a firm with Jewish roots and many Jewish partners are not prepared to work with someone who holds these views." Lawyers for Weller say that by ending their services, the firm unlawfully discriminated against the singer's protected philosophical beliefs, including that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Palestine should be recognised as a nation state. Weller said he had 'always spoken out against injustice, whether it's apartheid, ethnic cleansing, or genocide". "What's happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe," he said. "I believe they have the right to self-determination, dignity, and protection under international law, and I believe Israel is committing genocide against them. That must be called out. "Silencing those who speak this truth is not just censorship - it's complicity. "I'm taking legal action not just for myself, but to help ensure that others are not similarly punished for expressing their beliefs about the rights of the Palestinian people." Weller will donate any damages he receives to humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza, the legal letter says. Weller's lawyer Cormac McDonough, says the case "reflects a wider pattern of attempts to silence artists and public figures who speak out in support of Palestinian rights". "Within the music industry especially, we are seeing increasing efforts to marginalise those who express solidarity with the people of Gaza," he said.
