Banksy Tees Draw Snaking Lines As Artist Sells Them To Back Activists On Trial
Composite image via Banksy
Under a veil of anonymity, Banksy has for decades used graffiti to express views of capitalism and society without getting caught. Many other protesters aren’t quite so lucky, including four Black Lives Matter activists about to stand trial for allegedly taking down a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston.
Jake Skuse, Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, and Sage Willough have refuted criminal damage for pulling down the sculpture at a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol in June 2020. They are scheduled to go on trial at the Bristol Crown Court on Monday.
On Friday night, Banksy conveyed his solidarity with the four on Instagram and announced he was selling T-shirts so the defendants “can go for a pint.” The limited-edition tees, retailing for £25 (US$33) each, depict a pedestal that once carried the offending statue of Colston—a sea merchant who had specialized in wine, fruit, and textile trading before joining the slave trade in 1680 and eventually becoming the deputy governor of the monopolistic Royal African Company.
At the time of the protests last year, Banksy also gave a suggestion on how to handle the Edward Colston statue. The print on the T-shirt seems to be an update of a sketch the elusive street artist had made of the four people pulling down the sculpture.
“A famous day commemorated,” the artist said then. “Here’s an idea that caters for both those who miss the Colston statue and those who don’t. We drag him out the water, put him back on the plinth, tie cable round his neck and commission some lifesize bronze statues of protesters in the act of pulling him down.”
Once the Ujima Radio breakfast show exclusively revealed where the T-shirts would be sold, lines quickly formed outside the Bristol locations, including That Thing on Stokes Croft; Friendly Records in Bedminster; and Rough Trade on Nelson Street. According to passersby and the BBC, “hundreds” queued outside the shops in hopes to nab the wearable Banksy art, which was capped at one piece per customer.
The queue near Stokes Croft in Bristol this morning for Banksy t-shirts. pic.twitter.com/8wPUB0uy9e
— Anthony Ward (@Anth0ny_Ward) December 11, 2021
Of course, as past events have foreshowed, some turned this moment into a money-making opportunity. The BBC reports that resellers are peddling the £25 T-shirts online for up to £9,000 (US$11,900) a pop.
This is the queue at Frontline Video in St Paul's where the queue is forming ahead of the souvenir Banksy t-shirt going on sale. Other locations are Hakuna Matata, That Thing and Friendly Records. pic.twitter.com/zfQzBDOP5z
— Martin Booth (@beardedjourno) December 11, 2021
The queue outside Debbie’s for banksy shirts 🤣 pic.twitter.com/NDk1m2SP0F
— Radical Ed (@marxmiprefer) December 11, 2021
[via BBC, images via various sources]
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