Tom Bogaert grapples with his youth as a member of a so-called flag thrower’s association – and the question of how it was possible for him to unwittingly throw around the Flemish flag emblazoned with a lion as a teenager. He has been collecting photos, videos, and archival material, presented for the first time at IKOB.
Tom Bogaert won the international art competition of the Rotary Eupen -Malmedy in 2002 and has already been exhibited once at IKOB. VENDELZWAAIER – FLAGGENWERFER, respectively Flemish and German for “flag thrower,” is arguably his most personal work to date, the cycle being concerned with his youth as a member of a flag thrower’s association. These traditional associations date back to the Middle Ages and, play an important role for the visual language of in the so-called “Flemish movement” in the Belgian region of Flanders. Superficially a movement concerned with the promotion of Flemish culture and the Dutch language, it was partially co-opted by extremists using its platform to advocate for Flemish independence with nationalism and xenophobia at the centre of their agendas. When Tom Bogaert found an old notebook containing pictures from his own time as a flag thrower, he began to wonder how it had been possible to unwittingly throw around the Flemish flag emblazoned with a lion as a teenager. Subsequently, he began collecting photos, videos, and archival material, presented for the first time at IKOB.
The exhibition is a search for answers to the questions of representation, national identity, and how young people unquestioningly handle symbols without understanding their political meaning as iconographies of exclusion.
Photo: Tom Bogaert – Tom Bogaert, Wij Gwij Popinjay, 2022, Watou Arts Festival in Watou, Belgium
IKOB – Museum of Contemporary Art, Rotenberg 12b 4700 Eupen IKOB – Museum of Contemporary ArtTom Bogaert grapples with his youth as a member of a so-called flag thrower’s association – and the question of how it was possible for him to unwittingly throw around the Flemish flag emblazoned with a lion as a teenager. He has been collecting photos, videos, and archival material, presented for the first time at IKOB.
Tom Bogaert won the international art competition of the Rotary Eupen -Malmedy in 2002 and has already been exhibited once at IKOB. VENDELZWAAIER – FLAGGENWERFER, respectively Flemish and German for “flag thrower,” is arguably his most personal work to date, the cycle being concerned with his youth as a member of a flag thrower’s association. These traditional associations date back to the Middle Ages and, play an important role for the visual language of in the so-called “Flemish movement” in the Belgian region of Flanders. Superficially a movement concerned with the promotion of Flemish culture and the Dutch language, it was partially co-opted by extremists using its platform to advocate for Flemish independence with nationalism and xenophobia at the centre of their agendas. When Tom Bogaert found an old notebook containing pictures from his own time as a flag thrower, he began to wonder how it had been possible to unwittingly throw around the Flemish flag emblazoned with a lion as a teenager. Subsequently, he began collecting photos, videos, and archival material, presented for the first time at IKOB.
The exhibition is a search for answers to the questions of representation, national identity, and how young people unquestioningly handle symbols without understanding their political meaning as iconographies of exclusion.
Photo: Tom Bogaert – Tom Bogaert, Wij Gwij Popinjay, 2022, Watou Arts Festival in Watou, Belgium
