Flag Days
Lipupäevad. Kuvatõmmis videoteosest. Ástríður Jónsdóttir, Kaisa Maasik. 2021
Flag Days, an exhibition dealing with nations’ conquests and pride, is a project between Kaisa Maasik, from Estonia, and Ástríður Jónsdóttir, from Iceland. Both artists’ home countries have relatively short histories of independence. Flags of both nations are young and have played an important part in their plights and fights for freedom.
The exhibition raises questions about national pride and affiliation. With the flag as their subject, the artists’ emphasis is on notions and ceremonies surrounding it. Flags unite, invoke pride and disrupt unities. In an attempt to broaden the idea of what constitutes a flag, the artists draw parallels between sports and international relations in order to examine the power struggles and need to dominate opponents inherent in both.
Flag Days is part of the satellite programme of the Tallinn Photomonth contemporary art biennial and is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and the Embassy of Iceland in Helsinki.
Contributors: Karen Sif Ársælsdóttir, Madis Kurss, Rakel Ýr Stefánsdóttir
Thanks: Hilja Koplimets, Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar – FH, Karel Koplimets, Kling & Bang, Nudist Drinks, Tartu Ülikooli Akadeemiline Spordiklubi.