Rethinking Symbols

The exhibition entitled BLACK FLAGS at the ZKM Centre for Art and Media explores the motif of the black flag through three different works that fuse aesthetic and political interpretations. Using powerful artistic gestures as a means of envisioning a more ethically conscious future, the project’s concept challenges visitors to rethink social contexts and confront the issues that currently divide us.

Renowned choreographer William Forsythe presents his installation Black Flags (2014), in which two large industrial robots perform an intricate, endless choreography with black flags, pushing the boundaries of human-machine interaction in dance. Santiago Sierra, known for his critique of power structures, contributes Black Flag (2015), a photo and sound installation documenting the raising of the anarchist black flag at the North and South Poles. The flag symbolises a rejection of nationalism and colonialism. Edith Dekyndt, whose work often explores material transformation and cultural interconnectedness, offers the video Ombre indigène, part 2, Martinique (2014), which depicts a flag made of black hair fluttering in the wind. A powerful image that gained global attention during the Iranian protests in 2022.

The exhibition, a collaboration with the A/POLITICAL Foundation and the Forsythe Foundation, brings together these works that not only reflect the individual artist’s practice, but also contribute to a broader dialogue about identity, resistance and the possibilities for societal change. Through this collection of works, BLACK FLAGS invites us to question the symbols and systems that govern our world, and to imagine new ways of connecting and coexisting.