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Ai Weiwei: China
Title: Flag. 2019
Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei designed his flag to raise awareness of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The design was inspired by his time spent visiting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, who were forced to flee attacks in the Southeast Asian region of Burma. He noticed that nearly everyone was barefooted. He sees the bare footprint as a symbol that relates to anyone who has ever been forced to flee. He took 100 muddy footprints of people young and old in various locations, and combined them in his design.
It’s about human identity. Human rights is not a given property, but rather something we can only gain from our own defence and fight. As humans, as long as we can stand up or can make a move, we have our footprint. 
Arts organisations and human rights charities are invited to Fly The Flag for human rights. Fly the Flag who commissioned Ai Weiwei hoped: from the Highlands of Scotland to the coast of Cornwall via cities, towns and villages across the UK, in galleries and theatres, shopping centres and offices, schools and libraries, both physically and online, people will come together to celebrate that human rights are for everyone, every day.
www.flytheflag.org.uk
www.aiweiwei.com

Kate Genever
Title: K / I am trying to Communicate with you
To launch The Notice Board I wanted to fly a flag that summed up the ambitions and themes of this new project. A setting of the scene if you like. The blue and yellow maritime signal flag: K/ I wish to communicate with you flag, seems perfect. How interesting and sensible that ships talk to one another in an international language of patterned code – like art, both hold important messages. The flag, like The Notice Board project, has an ambition to communicate with you – to invite you to think about people, practices and places beyond here. This K/ I wish to communicate with you flag is an original. Taken from a decommissioned boat that is being dismantled in India. I bought the flag on Ebay.

The Notice Board is a new contemporary visual art project I’ve initiated to showcase the work of international artists in two public venues in Uffington, Lincolnshire. It will feature month-long exhibitions on the theme The Lands of the Free? The sites are an 66cm x 66cm sized Notice Board and 5m high Flag Pole hosted in my front garden. Both sites hold prominent positions in the centre of Uffington village on the A1175 – the main through route for all traffic. Both sites are visible to drivers, residents, pub visitors and ramblers walking the Torpel Way. Uffington also hosts an annual Scarecrow Festival which brings in upwards of 2000 people. My ambition is to connect audiences to the work of artists whilst offering unusual sites for artists to showcase work.  Rationale: The Notice Board takes 2 ambitions / statements as it starting point. In 1978 Václav Havel stated that the oppressed always contain ‘within themselves the power to remedy their own powerlessness’. He was referring to individuals living under communism. He went on to coach them to go about their daily activities as if communism did not exist. Then in another context anthropologist Tim Ingold’s proposed ‘Improvisation, celebrates the freedom of human imagination to transcend the determinations of both nature and society’. The Notice Board is a small act of struggle within this larger project that uses the only thing I have: Art and Ideas. It seeks to reclaim a space in a time of stress and anxiety and provide a structure of support. Each exhibition will be accompanied with a statement featuring information about the artist, the artwork and their country/heritage. The Notice Board understands International to mean: People born outside the UK and who live overseas People born outside the UK but who live here – they may have citizenship, leave to remain or refugee status. People born in the UK but who live and work elsewhere. People born in the UK who show work internationally.

Practicalities/Application: If you are interested in being selected here is some practical information. If you want to apply please send an image of the artwork you would supply, a website link and a 100 word max statement of your reasoning. Please say how you meet the international criteria.

Please see this film, made at the launch : https://www.ruskinprize.co.uk/about#/press/

I’ve been working with Year 9 students in Leeds in response to Leonardo’s drawings hosted at Leeds Art Gallery. It’s part of my drawing commission in support of this show and together the students and I have been thinking about the interplay between reality and imagination. In his work he switches between both seamlessly and which has led us to consider how we can use observation, poetic licence and description to think things into being.

Over looking lake Windermere from Lakeland Arts new museum Windermere Jetty I used the statement “Acknowledged all our knowledges” as our discussion starting point – for the second curated conversation yesterday. Developing a co-produced project with a new group, who are also new to cultural democracy, has been fascinating and is leading to an ambition to co-produce the entire education program. This aswell as generating an organisational C change in how it connects, attracts and develops wider audiences and producers.

I was in Manchester last night for the launch of the Ruskin Prize exhibition. I was happy to have been selected and happy to see friends come together around artworks. As a Companion of the Guild of St George I feel proud to have brought my interest and understanding of Ruskin to the show and glad how the Guild supports us artists still.

I’m pleased to have been commissioned by Peterborough Presents for a project called My true intent is all for your delight. The project builds on the success of recent works I’ve produced alongside communities across the country which utilise imagery and concerns relevant to them. ‘My true intent’ aims to unearth the small stories, lay knowledges and local histories inherent in the area and generate a series of large scale flags that celebrate this diverse, tolerant, international community to a wider audience.

The show at Willoughby Hall Gallery opened today and as part of the exhibition I led a drawing workshop at for the Year 10’s from the village secondary school led by Alan Parker. Lots of good work was generated and an edit by them has been added to the show. I really liked their drawings of my drawings and how they all got into loving charcoal. The show is open from June 12th till July 10th from 12 to 5 Tuesday to Sundays. A beautiful building, space and garden and fantastic to have such a venue in a little Lincolnshire village.

I’m really happy to have 3 pieces in this upcoming show in Rotterdam. Curated by Pure Propoganda its sited at their great new space on the side of the Leuvehaven near the Maritime Museum. They’ve selected my large text piece – The eyes they never lie – made during my recent residency and 2 other small works.

Artists included are: ROBERT BITTENBENDER/ JAKE CALEB/ DARIO D’ARONCO/ MAT DO/ KATE GENEVER/ MARTA HRYNIUK/ JANIS DZIRNIEKS/ JAN HENDERIKSE/ LUCAS JARDIN/ LISA KUGLITSCH/ LEXI/ TOM LOWE/ MIKE MOONEN/ ALEXANDRA PHILLIPS/ ZSOMBOR SALI/ NICK THOMAS/ PETAR TUSKAN/ KAMIEL VERSCHUREN/ STIJN WYBOUW