SORRY
USAD (United States Apologies Desk)

Public engagement/intervention (ongoing), 2025-26

SORRY is an ongoing series of public art interventions by American-born, Edinburgh-based artist and activist Joseph DeLappe. First launched in Edinburgh on July 4th and 5th, 2025. Later that month, on July 25th and 26th, I staged the work in Aberdeen, to protest Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland (this garnered international coverage via a Reuters video you can view here). That November I travelled the work to London as part of the Fall of Freedom events taking place across the USA. A video documentary of this engagement can be viewed here. I plan to take the work to Glasgow and Paris, France, this summer 2026.

At the heart of the intervention is a simple yet striking setup: a small desk draped with a cotton American flag, altered with hand-sewn woollen letters to read “SORRY.” A placard atop the desk reads “USAD – United States Apologies Desk”, humorously framing the project as an unofficial diplomatic gesture. DeLappe sits behind the desk, with an empty chair opposite him—an open invitation for the public to sit, talk, and engage in honest conversation about the global impact of U.S. policies, leadership, and imperial legacies. The project invites passersby into moments of shared reflection, political dialogue, and public atonement.

Each participant is offered a hand-signed apology card, including DeLappe’s personal pledge to resist Donald Trump and all forms of fascist ideology through civic and creative engagement. By occupying public space with humility and intention, SORRY reimagines protest as dialogue, and personal accountability as performance.