Untitled (Vexil), 2017
Blue tarpaulin and darkened steel
150h x 250w cm (flag) / 150h x 3 diameter (pole)
View from La Biennale d'Architecture d'Orléans marcher dans le rêve d'un autre, 2017
Preparatory drawing for a flag
View from La Biennale d'Architecture d'Orléans marcher dans le rêve d'un autre, 2017

A pavilion, a standard as a signal, represents the affirmation of an identity, which we find in the installation Vexil. On a white wall, a black steel pole stands out, holding a flag made of blue synthetic tarp:
"A standard made from protective tarp—a material that also serves as shelter for thousands of homeless people and that accompanied my research for two years in the Jungle of Calais. This flag is, in a way, a tribute to the Calais camp, transformed into a global city before being destroyed."

The use of this reclaimed material carries a strong symbolic weight, referencing its specific purpose: shelter, urgency, precarity, and fragility. A blue flag, its chromatic field evoking the sea, the horizon, the infinite—an emblem that asserts and seeks identity, striving for recognition.


Nidhal Chamekh © Adagp 2024