Banksy is one of the most famous anti-establishment artists in the world, so it might sound strange to hear of his enforced removal of Palestinian artist Shadi Alzaqzouq from his dystopian theme-park, Dismaland. The incident occurred after Alzaqzouq covered up his work in Dismaland in protest of it being exhibited alongside Israeli artists. It’s been pointed out that because of the nature of the theme-park, the incident could have actually been an extremely meta live-art concept orchestrated by Banksy and Alzaqzouq to highlight the issues faced by Palestinian people right now.
However, Alzaqzouq maintains that the street-art king was acting in earnest when he ordered him to be removed from the park, saying: “I found out when (I) arrived at the show that three Israeli artists were taking part, one of whom served in the IDF. I decided I had to protest in some way so I went and got a bed sheet from my hotel room and wrote “R.I.P Gaza: Boycott Israel” on it in coal and hung it over my artwork and laid down like a corpse in front of my two paintings on display.”
In 2005, Palestinian civil society issued a call for a campaign of cultural boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, because of their belief that Israel does not comply with international law and Palestinian rights. The BDS has been cited as strategy that allows “people of conscience” to participate effectively in the the Palestinian struggle for justice. According to Alzaqzouq, security guards arrived on the scene, telling him that his work was “too ugly” and apparently placed a sign next to it that explained the decision to throw him out of the park.
The artist posted the following on his Facebook page: “I am supporting the Boycott of Israel in all its forms, be it economical or cultural, as it seems to me that though the solution to the conflict is political, only an international citizen boycott can force our governments to sanction Israel for its continuous violation of our rights to exist. Dismaland is a show like no other and I am honored (sic) to have been selected by Banksy to figure amongst the participants and to show my artwork and its spirit to a larger public.”
Banksy’s move might initially be perceived as bizarre because not only has he made protest-art his life, but he has focused specifically on the plight of the Palestinian people. For example, he filmed an impassioned ‘travel advert‘ spoof for Palestine, which brings to light the problems faced by the Palestinian people of the Gaza strip. He also painted a mural on the remains of a house that was blasted during the height of the Israel-Palestine conflict last year:
However, if Banksy indeed threw Alzaqzouq out of Dismaland in earnest, it was probably because he was concerned about the technical cohesion of the show, but also because he didn’t want to be perceived as anti-semitic. Indeed, anti-Jewish sentiment is often neatly concealed within anti-Israeli discourse, and Banksy most likely wanted to distance himself from that.
Alzaqzouq today changed his Facebook profile picture to an image of the sign that was placed next to his work. This bitter move serves as a further indication – along with his vehement statements – that this incident was probably not a hoax.
Lead image is a still portrait by Alzaqouq. Story via Dazed.
