Wishes and Warnings in the Wind II

“It doesn’t happen every day to have the right to hoist, in the heart of our capital, flags which, for once, have nothing to do with the nation, on the contrary. A short walk in this ephemeral ‘oasis’ of tolerance. (…) And, to top it all, 1997 has been declared “year against racism” – once again a good thing through these blowing winds of intolerance – and the presidency of Luxembourg has the wind in their sails, the conditions are all favourable in order to allow Myriam Thyes to fly her ten flags, all hand painted, to the four points of the compass-rose of the capital.

Here is another thought that could be engraved in Myriam Thyses’ project: it is not my flags, she could say in substan-ce, that differ, but those who, from their birth, the nations obstinately place in smallness of their memory, dividing the globe into a multitude of plots of land with bolted doors. Faced with closing, she opts for the opening. Faced with intolerance, for generosity. And faced with the commercial thinking of the ir(responsibles), she opts for the respect of man. (…)”

Excerpt of Jean Portante’s review And the Flags are Flying, published August 28th 1997 in ‘Le Jeudi’, Luxembourg (full version: see PDF).