Flag, 900 × 450 cm, commissioned by 019 (Ghent) and Cas-co (Leuven) for Flag #7, Off the Grid, Leuven, 2024.
Huriya (حرية) is the Arabic word for freedom. The title, Huriya, Huriya, Huriya, Huriya, comes from a chant heard at protests all over the world.
The design is based on the keffiyeh, a cloth of Iraqi origin: its name is traced to Kufa, the city in southern Iraq. Each of its patterns carries a meaning. The fishnet speaks of fishermen and of the bond with the water, the olive leaves of resilience and of being rooted in the land, and the bold bands of the trade routes that crossed the region. The flag redraws these patterns pixel by pixel, joining the history of early computer graphics with carpet-making, and takes its proportions from a keffiyeh kept at home. It can be hung both vertically and horizontally; the design leaves room for that freedom.
The flag was inaugurated on 12 September 2024 with a performative guided tour together with Yasmina Reggad, performance artist, dramaturge, writer and researcher. Walking from Cas-co with the flag, and with the chant as the one constant, the tour ended at the flagpole, where the flag was hoisted. A fundraiser with risograph prints that evening supported Brussels for Palestine.
The design is based on the keffiyeh, a cloth of Iraqi origin: its name is traced to Kufa, the city in southern Iraq. Each of its patterns carries a meaning. The fishnet speaks of fishermen and of the bond with the water, the olive leaves of resilience and of being rooted in the land, and the bold bands of the trade routes that crossed the region. The flag redraws these patterns pixel by pixel, joining the history of early computer graphics with carpet-making, and takes its proportions from a keffiyeh kept at home. It can be hung both vertically and horizontally; the design leaves room for that freedom.
The flag was inaugurated on 12 September 2024 with a performative guided tour together with Yasmina Reggad, performance artist, dramaturge, writer and researcher. Walking from Cas-co with the flag, and with the chant as the one constant, the tour ended at the flagpole, where the flag was hoisted. A fundraiser with risograph prints that evening supported Brussels for Palestine.