Tapestry. Old flags from the Danish Communist Party and the Worker's Museum, wool. 350 x 455 cm.

Hope NOT Fear is part of the collection of the Worker's Museum.

Hope NOT Fear consists of old red woolen flags stitched together to form a huge banner. The standards, donated to the artists by the Danish Communist Party and the Worker's Museum, were used in socialist and communist marches throughout the 20th century.
The varying qualities and red nuances of the different fabrics is a strong visual and tactile element of the work. Some are almost transparent, others are thick and dense, some are torn. You sense the years gone by, the heavily used textiles convey the experiences and lived life contained in these flags.
The standards are modified, derived of their original slogans and names referring to their local political groupings. The slogans were embroidered in expensive gold thread on the red wool and eventually cut out by the artists. The empty spaces are replaced by new fabric. The only slogan left is the centrally placed Hope NOT Fear constructed from the cut-out pieces of goldwork.
What used to be declarations from competing groups now unfolds as a unison statement.
The phrase Hope NOT Fear contains a poetry and a vision in a world marked by violent events that can often overwhelm one with hopelessness. It is a paradoxical sentence as there is also in hope an awareness of fear.
The project is generously supported by the Danish Arts Foundation.

Included in the group show En Blank og Vårfrisk Dag, the Worker's Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark (2016).
Curated by Kasper Lynge Jensen.
Artists: Gitte Juul, Gavin Turk, Emil Elg, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, Thierry Geoffroy, Kristian Falsnæs, Mads Westrup.

Included in the group show FLAG – objekt, ikon, symbol, Randers Art Museum, Randers, Denmark (2019).
Artists: Mikkel Carl, Claus Carstensen, Ismar Cirkinagic, Sven Dalsgaard, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Jeannette Ehlers, Thierrry Geoffroy/Colonel, Poul Gernes, John Gerrard, Gudrun Hasle, Hesselholdt & Mejlvang, Peter Holst Henckel, Superflex, Lars Von Trier, Ai WeiWei.

Photo: Lars Arnfred Fynboe.