IMAGINED TERRITORIES is a new sculpture and public intervention by artist and designer Andy Welland, whose practice uses bright and playful collage works to celebrate togetherness, connection and the joy of being human. The work reimagines the flag as a symbol of connection rather than division – a flag for everyone, and for no one.
Known for his vibrant printmaking, collage and playful graphic language, Welland creates bold abstract compositions that are deliberately open to interpretation. Through IMAGINED TERRITORIES, he asks what happens when one of our most familiar and contested symbols is stripped of national allegiance altogether.
First realised in 2025 as a citywide public poster campaign across more than 20 civic locations in Sheffield and Barnsley, with support from ArtCry, the project now evolves at The Art House as a physical flag, proudly flying from the roof of the building.
At a time when the act of flying a flag has never felt more complex, the work responds to a moment in which flags have become increasingly visible and contested across Britain, raised on buildings and roundabouts, often carrying complex and conflicting meanings of pride, fear, belonging and exclusion.
Drawing on Welland’s background in design and advertising, the work borrows the proportions, familiarity and visual authority of a national flag while refusing to dictate allegiance to any particular nation, cause, political movement or ideology. Instead, IMAGINED TERRITORIES’S bright abstract forms leave space for interpretation. Different colours, shapes and forms exist alongside one another without any single element dominating, creating space for multiple stories, cultures and experiences to coexist.
The result is a flag that belongs to everyone and no one at the same time: an imagined territory defined not by borders, but by connection, empathy and our shared humanity. It asks what pride, identity and belonging mean today. Flying above the entrance to The Art House, the work takes on particular significance.
The Art House is a proud and nationally recognised Studio and Gallery of Sanctuary, and for almost a decade has worked alongside artists and communities with lived experience of seeking sanctuary. Also, TAH is a creative hub and civic space committed to welcome, inclusion and safety for all. This work invites us all to consider who and what we stand for.
Our building is a place where people from different backgrounds, cultures and experiences can meet, make, create and exchange ideas. Rather than providing a single answer, IMAGINED TERRITORIES asks us to consider some deceptively simple questions: Who gets to belong? What connects us rather than separates us? And what kind of society do we want to build together?
IMAGINED TERRITORIES was first realised as a billboard campaign across Sheffield and Barnsley, with support from ArtCry. The project is now looking for galleries, arts organisations, community spaces and other venues across the UK to become part of its growing national story.
Interested in flying the flag at your venue? Find out more and get involved
