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NEW DELHI: English graffiti artist Banksy secretly travelled to the Gaza Strip, creating street art in one of his most politically charged projects yet. The stencils include a crying figure wearing a headscarf, a scene of children playing on a fairground ride, and a white cat licking its paws.
In reference to the last image -- the cat licking its paws -- Banksy posted the following comment. “A local man came up and said ‘Please – what does this mean?’ I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website – but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens.”
The artist also released a two-minute video, presented almost as a dark satire titled “Make this year the year YOU discover a new destination.” In the spoof video, Banksy projects Gaza as a tourist destination. Taglines such as “the locals like it so much they never leave” are then countered with “(because they’re not allowed to).” “Well away from the tourist track” is explained by “(access is via illegal tunnels).” “Watched over by friendly neighbours” is followed by (“In 2014, Operation Protective Edge destroyed over 18,000 homes).”
The images and video were posted to Banksy’s official site (www.banksy.co.uk) and are being reproduced below:
Bomb Damage, Gaza City
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.
A local man came up and said 'Please - what does this mean?' I explained I wanted to highlight the destruction in Gaza by posting photos on my website – but on the internet people only look at pictures of kittens.
The video, “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination”
