Imagine if it wasn’t the NZ flag?

The Herald reports:

Amid public debate over a controversial art installation that encourages people to walk on a New Zealand flag, a woman has pledged to pick the flag up from the floor each day in protest. 

This comes after the Nelson installation, with the words “please walk on me” written on a New Zealand flag, sparked a feud between local leaders this week. 

Ruth Tipu took to social media to share her anger towards the installation, showing herself in a video picking up the flag and draping it on another art piece.

Ruth Tipu’s post said, “I’ll be down there every day to pick it up if I have to, and so should you.

“How dare we allow anyone to disrespect our National Flag, have some mana whanau to say something or at least go down and pick it up.

“It’s not right on any level to do this to any flag.”

She said, “My Koro went to war in the Maori Battalion and fought for his country under this flag what a disgraceful act to all those that died in the war for their country, our country, my country.”

The artist has the right to do an offensive art display.

However the Art Gallery is funded by and controlled by the Nelson City Council and they should not be funding and displaying something that the vast majority of ratepayers would find offensive. The right to display is not a right to ratepayer funding.

Would anyone go pay to see this exhibit, if it was a commercial gallery?

Also can you imagine the outcry, if it was not the NZ flag. Think if someone did this display using the rainbow flag or the Tino Rangatiratanga flag or the Palestinian flag? The mob would be boring the gallery down.