The Spanish civil war is the inspiration for this Saturday’s event at Gallery Aferro. A sneak preview can be seen here. Many members of the close-knit artist community of Newark contributed time, skill, grunt labor, props, original artwork, and themselves as performers to create this spectacle. There has been a spirit of humorous camaraderie as people arrived at the gallery each morning for rehearsals and filming, changing into 30’s-era costumes that they wore until nightfall, even during pizza breaks.
But recent events have gotten me thinking about other artistic endeavors that attempted to respond to that war, such as Picasso’s Guernica, depicting the fear and suffering of civilians in a violent time and place. The props created by local artists for 1938 include several historically accurate flags. Gallery Aferro currently does not fly a flag. We have always wanted to: it is the sort of decorative, cheerful gesture that when multiplied, signals a city’s vibrance. Suggestions have included a Jolly Roger, to suggest our independent, artist-owned and operated status. Another was a white flag, to suggest neutrality, peace. But the pirate flag has connotations of lawlessness and violence, and the white flag also means surrender.
At the very least, art can provide a restive moment out of our complicated and difficult lives. Occasionally, it can function as a common language for people to reach each other with.
I don’t know what flag to fly this week. I can only join the rest of the city in mourning three people that I never met, and won’t get a chance to.
