As debates around identity, migration, nationalism and belonging continue to shape public life across Britain, The Art House has unveiled a new public artwork by artist and designer Andy Welland that reimagines one of our most recognisable and contested symbols: the flag.

Installed above the entrance to The Art House in Wakefield, Imagined Territories transforms the traditional flag into a symbol of connection rather than division – a flag for everyone, and for no one.

In recent months, flags have become increasingly visible, and increasingly contested, across the UK’s public landscape. Raised on civic buildings, roundabouts and homes, whilst also being removed, challenged or reinterpreted elsewhere, they have become highly charged symbols within wider debates around migration, national identity, borders and belonging. For some they represent
pride, heritage and community; for others they can evoke exclusion, division or questions about who is welcomed and who is not.

Acting as a welcome to the The Art House, a nationally recognised Studio and Gallery of Sanctuary committed to creativity, inclusion and welcome, the work takes on particular significance. For almost a decade, the organisation has worked alongside artists and communities seeking sanctuary to create a space where people from different backgrounds can meet and make art together.

Damon Jackson-Waldock, Co-Executive Director of The Art House, said: “At a time when conversations about migration and identity can feel increasingly polarised, Andy’s work offers a powerful alternative. It asks us to imagine a symbol that is not defined by borders or exclusion, but by our shared humanity. As a Gallery of Sanctuary, that question feels particularly important to us. Who gets to belong, and what kind of society do we want to build together?”

Alongside the public artwork, The Art House has collaborated with Welland to produce a series of artist editions, including ten exclusive hand screen-printed banners produced in the onsite Print Studio using a ten-layer colour process. Also available is an archival giclée print edition of 50, alongside a collectable enamel badge inspired by the project. Together, these editions allow visitors to take a piece of the project with them and continue its message of connection, welcome and shared humanity beyond the gallery walls.

Known for his vibrant printmaking and playful graphics, Welland’s practice often explores the ways visual culture shapes how we understand ourselves and others.

Through Imagined Territories, Welland asks what happens when a flag is stripped of national allegiance altogether.
Drawing upon his background in design and advertising, the work adopts the authority and familiarity of a national
symbol. Whilst refusing to promote a particular nation, cause or viewpoint, political movement or ideology, the
work proposes an alternative vision of belonging, one rooted in empathy and our shared humanity.

The project was first realised in 2025 as a public poster campaign across civic locations in Sheffield and Barnsley before evolving into this new public artwork at The Art House. Flags are powerful symbols. They can bring people together, but they can also create divisions between people. Imagined Territories, belongs to everyone and no one at the same time – a symbol that encourages us to think about what connects us rather than what separates us.

Acting as a welcome to the The Art House, a nationally recognised Studio and Gallery of Sanctuary committed to creativity, inclusion and welcome, the work takes on particular significance. For almost a decade, the organisation has worked alongside artists and communities seeking sanctuary to create a space where people from different backgrounds can meet and make art together.

Damon Jackson-Waldock, Co-Executive Director of The Art House, said: “At a time when conversations about migration and identity can feel increasingly polarised, Andy’s work offers a powerful alternative. It asks us to imagine a symbol that is not defined by borders or exclusion, but by our shared humanity. As a Gallery of Sanctuary, that question feels particularly important to us. Who gets to belong, and what kind of society do we want to build together?”

Alongside the public artwork, The Art House has collaborated with Welland to produce a series of artist editions, including ten exclusive hand screen-printed banners produced in the onsite Print Studio using a ten-layer colour process. Also available is an archival giclée print edition of 50, alongside a collectable enamel badge inspired by the project. Together, these editions allow visitors to take a piece of the project with them and continue its message of connection, welcome and shared humanity beyond the gallery walls.