Artist flags up self-determination

RIGA - Latvian artist Aigars Bikse has launched a novel protest against the global dominance of American corporations by means of the Stars and Stripes, a large volume of cola drink, local craftsmanship and a couple of webcams.

His latest work features a hand-woven flag receiving a regular dousing in the soft drink.

The resulting installation, entitled 'The Incredible Adventures of the USA Flag in Latvia' was unveiled March 7  at Akniste secondary school. If that seems like a strange location for a politically-flavored protest, Aigars Bikse has an explanation.

"I got the impulse for this work from the former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright," Bikse says. "Some time ago when the Latvian Ministry of Health was going to stop selling of carbonated and sweetened soft drinks in schools and kindergartens Ms Albright wrote to the president of Latvia asking for the cancellation of such a step by the ministry. I really felt affected. In this case global business 'co-laundered' itself together with politics, leaving an impression of a process of a low ethical value."

Preparation of the artwork took 16 months. "It was important that every detail was prepared with utmost precision, but the final synthesis needed to take place in an average country school in Latvia. The stand of the aquarium is hand-made, created by artisan Valdis Bekmanis according to an individual design. But the flag's cloth was created by the textile artist and weaver Amanda Berga, according to ancient Latvian folk traditions, using only natural sheep's wool and natural colors.

The only difficulty was finding an ordinary school willing to host such a controversial object, Bikse says.

"The project was offered to school headmasters in many schools of Latvia. The surprising demonstration of self-censorship on behalf of many school headmasters was almost worth another separate art project, and so for a long time it was impossible to find a home for the artwork. The search for a school continued until the beginning of 2008 when the Akniste school headmaster agreed to exhibit the project in the school premises. A school in the rural countryside of Latvia, woollen cloth weaved according to ancient traditions, woodcarving requiring an immense input of work by the artisan - these are symbols of values which are quite opposite to those of the consumer culture and stand for the independence of decision-making of a small state, " Bikse believes.

Live webcams feeding into a dual-language site allow viewers around the world to watch the  artwork in action at www.flagadventure.com where it will run until May 7.