Flags For Countries That Don’t Exist But Bodies That Do. Rene Matic nominated for Turner Prize 2025. “Flags for countries that don’t exist but bodies that do” is a love letter – written in images – bringing together a carefully selected series of photographs taken by Rene Matic b. 1997, Peterborough between 2018 and 2021. Although the photos were taken across England, theirs is not a love letter to this country or any other. As Hannah Black notes in her introduction to the collection, Matic’s rendering of London, and England more broadly, is anti-symbolic, all drab brick and interior. Photographs of flag-laden council estates and political graffiti sit amongst portraits of the artist’s friends and family, each centring the cultural signifiers that fill everyday life. Through the photo-series, Matic presents a complicated relationship to British-ness, a relationship full of anger and resentment but complicated by love. 1997, Peterborough, UK is an artist and writer currently residing in London. Their artistic pursuits traverse the realms of photography, film, and sculpture, coalescing in what they term as “rude(ness), ” a concept that signifies both an acknowledgement and reverence for the liminal spaces. Matic’s creative impetus draws deeply from the realms of dance and music, notably the movements of Northern soul, Ska, and 2-Tone. These influences serve as vehicles for exploring the intricate interplay between West Indian and white working-class cultures in Britain. Moreover, Matic foregrounds queer intimacies, partnerships, and pleasures as not only subjects of exploration but also as essential modalities of resilience and survival within their artistic practice. They were nominated for the 2025 Turner Prize.