Cheers for Banksy’s Gaza Installation & Film: “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination”
March 2, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The artist Banksy has just released images of work he’s put up in Gaza, and a short video entitled “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination.” Banksy is known for his thoughtful and provocative street art challenging consumerist culture, government surveillance and repression with beauty, parody and humor.
The video’s shocking images show destroyed Gaza streets and homes “well away from the tourist track” where “development opportunities are everywhere. (The 2014 Operation Protective Edge destroyed over 18,000 homes).” Israel called its invasion of Gaza Operation Protective Edge.
Banksy made art on ruined Gaza buildings, ending the short film with graffiti on a wall of a quote from Paulo Freire: “If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, we side with the powerful—we don’t remain neutral.”
In connection with these works, Banksy said, “Gaza is often described as ‘the world’s largest open air prison’ because no-one is allowed to enter or leave. But that seems a bit unfair to prisons—they don’t have their electricity and drinking water cut off randomly almost every day.”
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