Antarctica Flag - Southbank Centre London

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Date: 2012
Ref: 5053.01
Materials: Flag netting (knitted) with a 98% show through on the reverse. Fire rating B1
Dimensions: 560 x 400cm each flag. Edition of 40 (4 A.P.)
Exhibition history: 2012 Southbank Centre London, UK
Courtesy: Lucy + Jorge Orta and the Southbank Centre London

First installed in Antarctica by Lucy + Jorge Orta during their 2007 expedition, the “Antarctica Flag” represents a kaleidoscope of different nations, as if through the filter of a prism, the flag concentrates all the national colours into the sum of light…. All identities coexist, side by side, hand in hand. The edges blend, symbolising belonging to a larger common identity. It could be the flag of a new World Community, to be raised as a supranational emblem of human rights.

The monumental crown of forty-four flags was installed on the roofs of Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, as well as the Queen’s Walk flagpole overlooking the river Thames in London. The Antarctica Flag installation was unveiled by the Southbank Centre in celebration of the Festival of the World and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.