“Part of a nationally touring exhibition, the work speaks to the fundamental right to challenge dominant narratives.
“As a public gallery, the Suter is committed to presenting perspectives that reflect the complexity of our communities.”
The statement said that since the exhibition opened, it “generated significant public response”.
“While many have engaged with the work thoughtfully and respectfully, recent days have seen a sharp escalation in the tone and nature of the discourse, moving well beyond the bounds of respectful debate.”
The gallery said the decision was made to protect the safety of staff, visitors and artworks as a precautionary measure.
“This should not be interpreted as a judgment on the artwork or the artist’s intent.
“We continue to support freedom of expression and the vital role that art plays in reflecting and shaping national conversations in a democratic society.”
Debate ignites after protests begin
Yesterday, a woman pledged to pick the flag up from the floor each day in protest after a feud between local leaders earlier in the week.
Ruth Tipu took to social media to share her anger towards the installation, showing herself picking up the flag and draping it on another art piece.
Tipu’s post said: “I’ll be down there every day to pick it up if I have to, and so should you.
“How dare we allow anyone to disrespect our National Flag, have some mana whānau to say something or at least go down and pick it up.
“It’s not right on any level to do this to any flag.”
She said: “My Koro went to war in the Māori Battalion and fought for his country under this flag what a disgraceful act to all those that died in the war for their country, our country, my country.”
Local leaders chime in on the debate
In a Facebook post, Nelson councillor Tim Skinner said he took his young son to the Suter Art Gallery on Friday and “we were horrified to see the NZ Flag on the floor requesting community to desecrate it, with ‘please walk on me’”.
Skinner said the piece was “totally inappropriate on so many levels”.
He said he made a formal complaint to the Suter director and raised the issue with the mayor and the Nelson City Council chief executive.
“This is more than disrespectful,” Skinner said.
“I do not condone standing on any recognised nation’s flag.
“Nor would I ever think it okay to use public money to teach visitors or youth that this is what we do.”
Skinner said he was a supporter of the gallery but has asked for the installation’s immediate removal and an apology.
Deputy Mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens said in a post: “I’m well aware I’m a politician, not a curator or critic.
“However, given at least one of my colleagues has decided to chime in, going so far as to call for an artwork’s removal and an apology, I think it’s only appropriate to speak in strong defence of artistic expression and the right for us all to be challenged and confronted by art.”
O’Neill-Stevens said the exhibition was “painfully relevant” because there has been a significant rise in direct attacks against Te Tiriti o Waitangi and against Māori recently.
Prince’s works are “powerful statements and provocations against a status quo that is built upon violent colonisation, a status quo that continues to deliver inequities of every manifestation”, O’Neill-Stevens said.
“They are challenging, they evoke strong emotions and gut reactions – that is key to their impact.”
O’Neill-Stevens said he understood why people reacted so strongly to the invitation to walk on the flag.
He said this offence people feel is an opportunity to “explore what it means when a government puts a fixed price tag on generations of harm, to ask if how you feel might at all correspond to how it feels to have a government unilaterally attempt to rewrite the Treaty or to ignore the systems put in place to avoid further breaches”.
“I can’t help but feel that if some of the people accusing the work of stoking division took a moment to explore how it makes them feel, they might instead find space for connection and understanding.”
Exhibition curator Gina Matchitt told RNZ it was important to understand there was more than one view of the flag.
“For Māori, that Union Jack symbolises land loss, language loss, culture loss,” she said.
It was even more relevant amid the Government’s attempts to “extinguish Māori rights”, she said.
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