Black History Month: “UNTITLED 2017 (FEAR EATS THE SOUL) (WHITE FLAG)” Art Installation
January 30, 2021 · 8:00 am—5:00 pm · Arts Council of Princeton
Humanities Council; Arts Council of Princeton
UNTITLED 2017 (FEAR EATS THE SOUL) (WHITE FLAG) by Rirkrit Tiravanija
January 18 – February 28
On display from the roof of the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton.
Conceived in response to unrest in our political climate, there is equal – if not more – urgency to present Tiravanija’s flag in 2021 during such a tumultuous time in our nation.
Tiravanija’s piece was created as part of Creative Time’s Pledges of Allegiance, a nationwide public art project that commissioned sixteen flags, each created by acclaimed contemporary artists. Each flag embodies art’s ability to channel political passion, points to an issue the artist is passionate about, and speaks to how we might move forward collectively as a country.
The message of Rirkrit Tiravanija’s flag is a reference to German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s film “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul”. Fassbinder’s two lead characters, a German cleaner and a Moroccan mechanic, meet in the film’s opening scene and commence an unlikely relationship that brings out their own deepest fears as much as the xenophobia and racism of their surroundings.
The Arts Council of Princeton’s Black History Month 2021 public programming is sponsored by the Humanities Council.
