A controversial piece of artwork that prompted 101 complaints in a week has now been stolen from a Hastings art gallery.
The installation, Flagging the Future, at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery asked gallery visitors to “please” walk on top of a quasi-NZ flag.
Councillor Steve Gibson expressed his displeasure with the exhibition earlier this week. Since then there have been small protests outside, 101 complaints to the Hastings District Council and the gallery and at least one trespass notice issued.
The flag was stolen from the Civic Square gallery on Thursday, a Hastings District Council spokesperson confirmed.
A spokesperson for Hastings District Council said there were cameras in the gallery and that matters around identifying the person involved in the theft were being managed by the police.
Earlier that day, Havelock North resident Mike Doyle was banned from the gallery for two years for kicking a wooden block, part of the installation.
Doyle said he wasn’t behind the theft.
Ōtaki-based Māori artist Diane Prince’s installation was also hastily removed from the Suter Art Gallery Te Aratoi o Whakatū in Nelson earlier this year for what the gallery described as staff safety reasons following abuse and complaints.
The controversial installation included a New Zealand flag laid on the floor, inviting people to “please walk on me”.
Prince’s exhibits at the Hastings District Council-owned gallery also include weaving, drawings, paintings, a multimedia installation and sculptures made over several decades.
Gallery director Sophie Davis said public galleries were spaces for reflection, learning and discussion.
“Part of our role is to present work that examines history and identity, including when it is challenging.
“The theft of the flag is now a police matter and that part of the exhibition will not return to display,” Davis said.
“It remains important that our community can access the wider exhibition and its context.”
It’s understood there has also been at least one attempt from members of the public to replace the flag with a quasi-NZ flag with the writing “please salute me” on it.
Doyle said he was really upset when he saw the “please walk on me” flag on the ground.
“I told the receptionist I thought it was disgusting,” Doyle said.
He said he was shaking and upset for the whole of New Zealand.
“I thought to myself, ‘how the hell can I protest?’. On the floor, on either side of the flag, there were blocks of wood with writing on them, so I kicked one. That was my protest.
“I was almost crying, but I thought if it’s alright to stand on the NZ flag it’s alright to kick a block of bloody wood.”
Doyle said staff called the police and claimed he was banned from the gallery for two years on the spot.
Gibson said earlier this week that seeing the New Zealand flag on the floor of the gallery with a sign inviting people to walk on it was a real shock.
“That flag has been carried by New Zealanders in every major conflict and it holds deep meaning for many of us,” Gibson said.
“My own feelings come from experience. A friend of mine died while serving in East Timor. I also lost a work colleague who died on duty while we were doing our best to keep our community safe as a police officer.
“My great uncle was killed on the Somme in World War I. When I see our flag, I think of them and the service and sacrifice it represents. That is why treating it in this way feels so wrong.
“It is not about shutting down art. It is about showing respect for something that carries real emotional weight.”
Exhibition curator Gina Matchitt said earlier this week, on behalf of Prince, that the reaction to her installation was like taking “a litmus test of the country”.
“The purpose of it is to unpack dialogue and talk about what the flag means to you,” she said.
“That often depends on your experience and upbringing.
“To many Māori, the flag has a different meaning.”
She said Prince was asking people to walk on it as a form of protest.
“But you don’t have to. It’s a personal choice,” Matchitt said.
She said Prince was a senior Māori artist whose works were a significant part of New Zealand’s art history.
“Flagging the Future was first presented at the Auckland Art Gallery more than 30 years ago and represents a moment in time when her work prompted deep discussions around New Zealand’s national identity,” Matchitt said.
Gibson said he had raised his concerns within Hastings council because he didn’t want council staff facing the same sort of backlash as the staff at the Nelson gallery experienced.
“We need to be mindful of how these choices affect our people and our community. Especially as our art gallery is right next to the war memorial,” Gibson said.
The exhibition opened at Hastings Art Gallery on November 1 and is set to run until January 31.
Tukituki MP Catherine said she had spoken with the council and urged it to review its policies regarding public art displays such as this one and “uphold respect for our national flag”.
“We have received numerous complaints from ratepayers about the display, and this raised the question of whether ratepayer money should fund this.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
