M HKA Ensembles

Object, variable dimensions.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. DM21).

Wooden Ship Model, Electric Fan, and Flags of Convenience [title given by Allan Sekula], 2010, ship model in painted wood (hand-made), 68,6 cm long; fan and flags in metal, plastic, textile (mass produced), variable dimensions. [Allan Sekula – The Dockers' Museum, 2010-2013, object nr. 36]

Sekula says about this *"we have this framing object that was on the table in Antwerp, the ship model that your team made to my rough specifications, which was combined with the fan and the flags of the primary nine or ten flags of convenience, that for me was important especially for the juxtaposition with the works from ‘Ship of Fools’, the works about this campaign against the flag of convenience, but I still feel that that is a key element of the museum, it could be dissociated from those specific photographs. It’s like a preface."* **Flags of convenience** Representing 450 transport workers unions internationally, this umbrella organisation; the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), an initiative of trade union activists and ex-Greenpeace campaigners, has fought a longstanding campaign against the practice of vessels sailing under flags of convenience, a practice which extends to over half of all merchant ships. Dating back to the mid twentieth century, flags of convenience allow for ship owners to avoid national regulations in the ship’s country of origin (including basic safety standards, a minimum wage and union representation) by registering their ships in countries where these regulations are weak or do not apply. Consequently, the ITF’s campaign seeks to enforce the link between the real owners of vessels and the flags under which they sail as well as more broadly protect the interest of sea workers around the world.