Raymond la matraque

This faded flag (as if it had been taken from a black-and-white photograph or film and parachuted into reality) implicitly refers to dated images, and also conveys an old idea of “nation” or “homeland”. One could almost say that it physically manifests a hint of the return of these notions and their terrible offspring, nationalism and patriotism.

‘Raymond the truncheon’ was the nickname given to Raymond Marcellin, who was Minister of the Interior during the events of May 1968. The painted wooden pole that supports the flag and evokes a ‘primitive’ truncheon was cut down in a forest in the Vannes region, the town where Raymond Marcellin was mayor for many years and where I was born.