May Fifth Flag (Vijf Mei-vlag)

About this artwork.

The artist group Forma Aktua, led by Henri de Wolf, advocated a liberation art project in 1982, in which five flags would be placed in different neighbourhoods as a “warning and revival” against fascism. But their proposal was rejected by the city council. Then Forma Aktua donated one flag to the municipality. May Fifth Flag is a monument to the Jews deported from Groningen and was therefore deliberately placed in the vicinity of the Folkingestraat, the neighbourhood where a large portion of the Jewish population lived before the Second World War. The two bends of the flagpole symbolise the shock of the war period and the liberation on 5 May 1945 respectively. The frayed edge of the flag seems to refer to the permanent scars; prior to the war, the Groningen Jewish community numbered some three thousand members; after that time, the number was only two hundred.

Initially, May Fifth Flag stood at the Reitemakersrijge, but in 1996 a new location was sought in connection with the new Academy of Architecture, which was to be built. Today the statue stands in the New Town: the heart of the former Jewish quarter. The artwork is located opposite the building where Forma Aktua is located. An plaque has been added, the text reads:
 
“5 MAY FLAG 1945-1982, LIBERATION FLAG.
FOR PEACE, SECURITY, FREEDOM AND MANY JOYS.
AGAINST FASCISM, RACISM, DISCRIMINATION AND ANTI-SEMITISM.
AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE ARMS RACE. AGAINST THE EROSION OF SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND UNEMPLOYMENT.
THE EXPANSION OF DEMOCRACY AND EFFECTIVE CRISIS MANAGEMENT.
IN MEMORIAM KOOS KOSTER, JAN KUIPER, JOOP WILLEMSEN AND HANS TER LAAG,
THE IKON REPORTERS MURDERED IN EL SALVADOR ON 17 MARCH 1982 BY THE FASCIST JUNTA
FOR THE LIBERATION OF EL SALVADOR AND ALL OPPRESSED PEOPLES.
PRESENTED BY GRONINGER ARTISTS TO THE MUNICIPALITY, THE GRONINGEN POPULATION AND LOCAL RESIDENTS, THE SYNAGOGUE, ETC.”

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Henri de Wolf

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1982

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Steel, Paint

• Dimensions
  h ca. 6,00 m