Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Separation Wall
April 28, 2010
Some say you can’t decorate it, others see it as a form of political protest. A fact is that the Separation Wall, with a total length of some 760 km, offers an ideal outlet for activists, street artists, tourists, and locals to express themselves. The British guerrilla graffiti artist Banksy used the grey and concrete wall built by Israel through the West Bank as a canvas to give free reign to his thoughts.
Palestine Monitor’s photojournalist FLV explored the wall in two sites, Qalandiya (Ramallah) and Bethlehem. His images show how graffiti can be a tool of expression, somewhere between art and political engagement.
The anonymous Banksy once told a reporter from the English newspaper The Guardian, that the wall is illegal under international law and essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison. And with some sense of humor he added: "It also makes it the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers." In contrast to Banksy, Suliman Mansour, one of the leading Palestinian artists, thinks that artists shouldn’t work on the wall, because, he said, '’In some way, they become attached to their work and won’t want the wall to come down." What’s certain, Banksy’s work has invigorated an interesting debate about artwork on the wall…
Some say you can’t decorate it, others see it as a form of political protest. A fact is that the Separation Wall, with a total length of some 760 km, offers an ideal outlet for activists, street artists, tourists, and locals to express themselves. The British guerrilla graffiti artist Banksy used the grey and concrete wall built by Israel through the West Bank as a canvas to give free reign to his thoughts.
Palestine Monitor’s photojournalist FLV explored the wall in two sites, Qalandiya (Ramallah) and Bethlehem. His images show how graffiti can be a tool of expression, somewhere between art and political engagement.
The anonymous Banksy once told a reporter from the English newspaper The Guardian, that the wall is illegal under international law and essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open prison. And with some sense of humor he added: "It also makes it the ultimate activity holiday destination for graffiti writers." In contrast to Banksy, Suliman Mansour, one of the leading Palestinian artists, thinks that artists shouldn’t work on the wall, because, he said, '’In some way, they become attached to their work and won’t want the wall to come down." What’s certain, Banksy’s work has invigorated an interesting debate about artwork on the wall…
