Sven Signe Den Hartogh is a Dutch artist and designer who created Usawa, an installation composed of a transparent flag that aims to represent balance and equality in the world.

Sven wanted to create a universal flag that does not make any difference between people or population groups. Usawa, which in Swahili means “balance”, was created in collaboration with the modern art museum Ijsselstein. With this representation Sven Signe Den Hartogh wants to show humanity regardless of boundaries, skin color, sexuality, religion and other labels imposed by today’s society thus creating a new symbol for humanity that represents universality, in which all are equal. Usawa’s goal is to restore the balance between people and show how harmful labels can be to the world. The transparent flag, according to the artist, should invite people to look at the environment, at the world and therefore to realize that the only thing really important in life is life itself.