Welcome to What the flag?!
What the Flag?! is an international art project initiated by Greylight Projects in 2016, led by artist Wouter Huis. The project invites artists to reinterpret the medium of the flag, using it as a vehicle for artistic expression and reflection on identity, territory, and symbolism.
The flag has a long tradition of different uses and meanings: it is commonly used to transmit signals, to identify countries, regions or cities, or to visually demarcate territory. Flags are also frequently used to represent political ideas and beliefs.
For What the Flag?!, artists are invited to respond from their own artistic practice and vision to the concept of the flag, possible within the context of the location in which their work is shown.
History
Since its inception in 2016, What the Flag?! has developed into a growing collection of artist-designed flags. In 2022, the project was presented in Heerlen, where artists were invited to respond to the medium of the flag from their own artistic practices within the context of the site where the flags were shown. In 2024, the project expanded to Luxembourg, initiating a cross-border artistic and creative exchange.
Concept
The project explores the flag as both medium and symbol, inviting artists to translate their work into the format of a flag. These flags are often exhibited in public space, allowing them to reach a wider audience and spark dialogue around issues of identity and symbolism.
Exhibitions and Collaborations
What the Flag?! has been presented in various locations and contexts, including various editions in basetown Heerlen and in the Euregion as part of the Very Contemporary network which focuses on contemporary art in the Meuse-Rhine Euregion. For the European Design Festival in 2023 there was a dedicates edition in Luxembourg city with flag of local artists and designers.
For the 2025 What the flag?! edition click > here <