The Many Colours of LGBTQ+ Pride | Bishopsgate Institute (2024)

Artist Guillaume Vandame's flying the flags

As part of the Sculpture in the City, an annual event that transforms urban areas in the City of London into a sculpture park, artist Guillaume Vandame hung 30 pride flags in Leadenhall Market. We asked him about his artwork, what pride flags meant to him, and why they still matter.

Tell us about your installation symbols at Leadenhall Market.

symbols is an artwork consisting of thirty flags ranging from gender, sexuality, and desire. I am really happy that symbols is featured as part of the 10th edition of Sculpture in the City, City of London, pioneered by Stella Ioannou and Simon Glynn.

The nature of the artwork is a sculptural installation that works on different levels. The installation is site specific, made especially for the Beehive Passage at Leadenhall Market, at the same time, it’s conceptual and rootless in the same way gender and sexuality are universal. I feel really proud that the artwork can be presented as part of this incredible programme.

**Due to adverse weather and strong wind, symbols is currently deinstalled from Leadenhall Market while the artwork undergoes maintenance. It will be reinstalled in March 2022.**

What was the inspiration for symbols?

I had the idea when I was developing my artwork Notice Me (LGBTQIA+ Walk) for Nocturnal Creatures 2019, an annual arts festival commissioned by Sculpture in the City in partnership with Whitechapel Gallery. As part of my research, I was amazed to come across a cross-section of flags at Bishopsgate Institute, and instantly felt compelled to bring this out into a more public space. At the same time, I was interested in creating a meeting point for people joining us on the walk, and I had this idea to create artwork that would show as many flags together as possible. Leadenhall Market was part of this walk and it felt poetic that symbols can be shown here for the first time.

When did you first become aware of the Pride flag and what does it mean to you?

I first learned about the Pride flag as a teenager whilst coming to terms with my own sexuality. I have to admit, I felt a bit alienated or estranged from something that was so loud and out there, which was the opposite of how I felt at the time; I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. It was only after coming out that I became more ‘acclimated’ with the flag and now it’s something I firmly stand by and support.

It’s interesting, because I think that feeling is exactly why the Pride flag is so effective as a symbol for human rights and equality. It continues to challenge people to question their own attitudes regarding differences in our society, whilst simultaneously standing as a peaceful symbol of solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s a rainbow, after all, what’s not to like?

Why do Pride flags still matter?

While I was working on symbols for Sculpture in the City, the symbolism and legacy of the Pride flag became the focus of A Brief History of Rainbows, an art film I made between 2020 and 2021 as part of my residency at Union Chapel, London. I wanted to re-frame the Pride flag and strip it back, to show that it’s not something we can take for granted, no matter how accepting or tolerant our attitudes might appear.

I just learned a few days ago about Sarah Hegazi, an Egyptian activist who was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured for three months after flying a Pride flag at a concert in 2017. They died by suicide in 2020. The story might be extreme or uncomfortable to hear but it helps put things in perspective. On the one hand it is a ‘rainbow’ and on the other hand it is a ‘flag’, and these are actually two separate things which together become quite irreverent and iconoclastic.

Most people might also be surprised to know that the Pride flag is frequently vandalised, stolen, and was, under President Trump, banned from being shown at US Embassies. The nature of exhibiting symbols then becomes a gesture of solidarity with these individual community groups. It signifies a social responsibility or commitment by an institution to include and represent all these people in public space. I am also aware that one day we might live in a utopian world where our gender, sexuality, and desire are no longer part of this discourse and symbols alludes to this idea as well. The joy of the artwork is how it reveals our values, beliefs, and attitudes as a society while paradoxically being a total celebration of love and togetherness.

Why do you think it’s important for different identities to have a symbol?

I was talking to a friend recently who was thinking about coming out but was unsure if they were ‘bisexual’ or ‘gay’. It was through this chat that I remembered how important it is that each of these flags exist, because they ground our sense of identity. The experience of being gay might be similar to being bisexual, but they are ultimately different lived experiences. Each person is unique, and that also varies among generations and in different cities and countries. The idea of showing the flags in public space is really interesting as a concept, given how polarising they can be in different cultures and contexts.

As an artist, I feel like there is maybe more freedom than simply showing the flags as something ordinary like at a Pride festival. Even in these contexts, some of the flags represent aspects of identity and desire that are further away from the conceived 'mainstream', like those from the fetish communities. symbols acknowledges this tension through the inclusion of eight flags from these communities. This opens a conversation around difference and desire and is something people can learn more about at the UK Leather and Fetish Archive, which celebrates and preserves the heritage of leather, rubber, kink, BDSM and fetish communities. It feels fitting that it has a home alongside the extensive LGBTQ+ Archives housed at Bishopsgate Institute.

To see more of Guillaume's artwork, be sure to head over to his Instagram

If you'd like to learn more about LGBTQ+ history, from 28 February - 21 March, we're taking over The Curve at Barbican with Out and About!. We've created an archive installation of objects, ephemera and media that highlights 40 moments and stories in London’s LGBTQ+ history.