The Altered States series show the wheel from the Roma flag resituated within existing flags designs, in this case the rainbow flag. The new flags become icons of integration as well as and symbols of resistance. These new designs describe an optimistic scenario of coexistence and at the same time mark a celebration of difference.
Daniel Baker is a Romani Gypsy born in Kent, United Kingdom in 1961. An artist, curator and theorist, he holds a PhD on the subject of Gypsy aesthetics from the Royal College of Art, London. Baker acted as exhibitor and advisor to the first and second Roma Pavilions: Paradise Lost and Call the Witness at the 52nd and 54th Venice Biennales respectively. Baker’s work examines the role of art in the enactment of social agency through an eclectic practice that interrogates contemporary art discourse and its social implications via the reconfiguration of elements of the Roma aesthetic. Publications include We Roma: A Critical Reader in Contemporary Art (2013) and Ex Libris (2009). Baker’s work is exhibited internationally and can be found in collections worldwide. Former Chair of the Gypsy Council (2006–2009). He lives and works in London.
