This exhibition of new work by Raafat Ishak stems from a project that began in 2006, when the artist sent a standardised letter to one hundred and ninety four governments requesting citizenship, and received ninety seven replies. These responses included formal letters outlining immigration procedures, friendly and welcoming replies encouraging immediate action, along with suspicious responses demanding contact details and further explanations.

The result of this project is an exhibition of one hundred and ninety four paintings, each depicting a country’s flag in a mutation of its true colour, juxtaposed with an abbreviated Arabic transcript of that government’s response (or lack of response) to Ishak’s request for citizenship. In each painting, the artist aims to highlight the abstract, distinctive nature of flags, whilst maintaining an objective stance towards statehood and the implications of homeland.

Alphabetically installed according to the government represented, the series of flag paintings will begin at Sutton Gallery’s south wall and continue on to the Project Space in Young Street. An additional, three-dimensional work will further accentuate the exhibition’s overarching concern with notions of citizenship.