Beginning in the eighteenth century, flags as we know them today became subsumed under the rising tides of nationalism, and were increasingly attributed to notions of belonging and subsequently exclusion. While the origins of the textile flags that flutter on poles have not been established conclusively, it is well known that Chinese silk was the material of choice for flag-making in medieval times. Interest in the symbolism and materialism of flags grew steadily in the nineteenth and almost exponentially in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Esvin Alarcón Lam is hardly a vexillologist, yet his discovery of his Chinese grandfather’s sewing machines and commercial-scale involvement in the Guatemalan textile industry since the 1950s, led to a keen exploration of Chinese presence in the region—referenced in the work Journey to the West (2024)—as well as textiles as a mode and material for artistic production. These considerations, alongside his explorations of queer perspectives on transcultural histories, informed the production of Amarica, todas invertidas (2020), a series of thirty-five flags from Central American countries that appear as if they are being viewed through a fluorescent pink filter to mark the complicated intersections of statehood and queer identity. For Forgive Us Our Trespasses / Vergib uns unsere Schuld, Alarcón Lam has produced Overseas peach (2024), three new flags that fly on the masts of the Paulette Nardal Terrace, making them observable at any time, regardless of opening hours. This placement not only reinforces Alarcón Lam’s commitment to art in the public sphere but also highlights the fact that these flags should indeed be as public as the ubiquitous national flags in the adjacent government district.

Works in the exhibiton: Overseas peach (2024), series of flags, sublimation on fabric, 450 × 700 cm each; Journey to the West (2024), drawing, paper, and crayon, 75 × 57 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Henrique Faria, New York