{"id":7693,"date":"2024-09-20T14:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T14:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/follow-the-things.onyx-sites.io\/?p=7693"},"modified":"2026-03-05T17:51:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T17:51:36","slug":"banksys-slave-labour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/followthethings.com\/?p=7693","title":{"rendered":"Banksy’s Slave Labour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Banksy’s Slave Labour<\/strong>“
Street art by Banksy.
Photo of the original artwork in situ <\/em>above. Whereabouts and condition currently unknown.

It\u2019s 2012. Queen Elizabeth\u2019s Diamond Jubilee is being celebrated in the UK. The London Olympics are also taking place. There\u2019s Union Jack bunting everywhere. It\u2019s cheaply and readily available in discount stores like Poundland. Including one in Wood Green, South London. Along a street where the Olympic torch relay may have passed. This is where the anonymous celebrity British street artist Banksy paints a mural of a child hunched over a sewing machine, making this bunting in India. Physical bunting is part of the work. It\u2019s hung up on the wall and spills onto the pavement. Banksy, as usual, explains little or nothing. Commentators say it\u2019s inspired by a 2010 expos\u00e9 of child labour in Poundland\u2019s supply chains. Like other examples of Banksy\u2019s street art, it quickly makes the news, people visitfrom afar, locals claim it as theirs, and it’s stolen and auctioned on the international art market. Trade justice activists love it when their work goes viral. This story was everywhere. This image of child labour in pound shop supply chains was reproduced countless times. But this viral story wasn’t, unfortunately, about trade injustice. It did\u2019t put pressure on Poundland, or any other retailer, to remove child labour from their supply chains, to improve workers\u2019 pay and conditions, or to achieve any other trade justice goal. The story that went viral was about this Banksy being stolen and auctioned in Miami the following year and, later, in London for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It\u2019s about who owns this work, who has the right to sell it, where it belongs and the irony of an artwork that critiques commodity cultrure becoming a commodity. Local residents argue that the work only makes sense in situ (a point that Banksy makes about all of his street art). It\u2019s never returned but countless people around the world have not only seen it but also bought it. You can buy Slave Labour as a sticker, an ornament to hang on your Christmas tree, a framed print to hang on your wall, a stencil or wallpaper mural to recreate it on your wall. Because of the controversy about its removal and sale, it has become one of Banksy\u2019s most iconic works. And the wall where it was originally posted is still haunted by its presence, with countless grafitti artists adding copies, versions and alternatives there. This is one of the most famous examples of trade justice art-activism. Banksy lending his celebrity status to the cause brought it into the media spotlight for months. But there\u2019s no evidence that this helped to improve the pay and conditions of workers, younger and older, in pound shop supply chains. So what can we learn from what did and didn\u2019t happen here? What could and couldn’t happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Page reference: Lydia Dean, Lucinda Armstrong, Jessica Bains-Lovering, Emily Hill, Harriet Allen & Rose Cirant-Carr (2025) Banksy\u2019s Slave Labour<\/em>. http:\/\/followthethings.com\/banksy-slave-labour.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estimated reading time: 61 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

147 comments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Slave Labour is a mural that was painted by a British graffiti artist, Banksy, on the side wall of a Poundland store in Wood Green, London in May 2012. The artwork is 48.03 inches (122 cm) high by 59.84 inches (152 cm) wide, and depicts an urchin child at a sewing machine assembling a bunting of Union Jack patches (Source: Anon nd, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Amidst all the London 2012 Olympics celebrations, Banksy was on hand to dampen the mood with his anti-consumerist attitude, using his art to bring attention to sweatshops. Slave Labour<\/em> was spray-painted on the side of a Poundland in Wood Green. It portrays a young child using a sewing machine to produce Union Jack flags …(Source: Saunders 2023, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… and … features a real-life object (in this case, the bunting) (Source: Windsor 2023, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The location of the piece is significant, implicating Poundland in its criticism: the shop was selling decorations like those depicted and had previously been linked to the use of child sweatshop labour. Banksy therefore uses the piece to draw ‘attention to the conditions of production of these disposable nationalist icons<\/em>‘ (Hansen and Flynn, 2015, p. 901), prompting the viewer to reflect on their consumerist habits (Source: Hines 2021, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

+7 comments<\/summary>\n
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It has an Industrial Revolution quality (Source: Trifunov 2016, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[It is] widely considered to be a critique of the Queen\u2019s Diamond Jubilee celebrations (Source: BBC TV News 2013).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[It] act[s] as a stark reminder of the dark, inhumane measures taken to produce mass merchandise for the Queen\u2019s diamond jubilee and the London Olympics (Source: Saunders 2023, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[It is] a more general criticism of Royalism in the UK, and the dark consumerism that underlies Jubilee fanaticism …(Source: Argun 2024, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… [and] rais[es] questions about the role and responsibility of the monarchy in addressing such issues (Source: Anon 2023, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The piece rapidly gained notoriety, not for its challenging depiction of a small child at work in a far-eastern sweat shop … but for its equally swift removal and moniterisation … (Source: Straffon 2022, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… [after it] appeared … on 15 May 2012 … was removed … during February 2013 and ended up in an art auction in Miami (Source: Wright 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Inspiration \/ Technique \/ Process \/ Methodology<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Poundland is the largest discount retailer in Europe (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.901).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In the run up to the Queen\u2019s Diamond Jubilee, the company sold an astonishing 2,500 miles of bunting (Source: Wallop 2012, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[In 2010, the] High Street shopping chain … [launchd] an inquiry after a boy of seven was found to be working 100 hours a week in an Indian sweatshop producing goods for the store. The child, known as Ravi, was reportedly earning just 7p an hour to make napkin rings \u2026 working and sleeping in the sweatshop in Delhi\u2026’Poundland does not tolerate child labour under any circumstances and will not work with companies that employ children’, a spokesman said (Source: Mail Foreign Service 2010, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The supplier in question was dropped by Poundland and the company strengthened its supplier code of conduct, commissioned audits of non-UK factories and joined Sedex, a platform for sharing supply-chain information. But one artist \u2013 probably Banksy \u2013 was unconvinced. An image of an Asian child making Jubilee bunting appeared on the side of a London store in May (Source: Siegle 2012, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Slave Labour <\/em>… first appeared just prior to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of 2012, on the wall of a Poundland store in North London\u2019s Wood Green (Source: M2 Presswire 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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At the time, the store was heavily stocked with Jubilee merchandise, some of which \u2013 the plastic Union Jack \u2018bunting\u2019 emerging from the boy\u2019s sewing machine \u2013 formed part of the original piece, before the local residents stripped it bare. This \u2018product placement\u2019 draws attention to the conditions of production of these disposable nationalistic icons \u2026 Slave Labour\u2019<\/em>s in situ location, and three-dimensional bunting, implicates the Poundland store and its customers (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, 901).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A professor specialising in Bansky believes it is the Bristol-born artist\u2019s work. … Professor Paul Gough, from University of the West of England … suggests the image has all the hallmarks of a genuine Banksy. He said: ‘The stencil is very well cut, the quality of the spraying and that unique feathered edge that he is able to achieve when painting white on to black is reminiscent of several other pieces in the capital. The bunting is a brilliant touch, short-lived but with lasting impact in the memory given this royal anniversary year'(Source: Anon 2012, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Slave Labour<\/em> gained significant media coverage when it appeared in May 2012 (Source: Adewumi 2024, p.54).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Banksy is the world\u2019s most famous and expensive urban artist (Source: Reyburn 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams [comprise] … graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique (Source: M2 Presswire 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[He] is one of the few major artists who remains anonymous, although like fictional characters \u2013 Robin Hood, the Scarlet Pimpernel or Zorro \u2013 his anonymity is in itself a badge of celebrity (Source: Barrett 2019, p.13 link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[He] began his career spray-painting buildings and bridges in his home city of Bristol in southwest England. His often satirical images include two police officers kissing, armed riot police with yellow smiley faces and a chimpanzee with a sign bearing the words ‘Laugh now, but one day I\u2019ll be in charge.’ Original Banksy works now sell for up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and the artist has become an international celebrity. He has created sequences for The Simpsons<\/em> [see our page on the Banksy-directed ‘couch gag’ here<\/a>] and directed an Academy Award-nominated documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop<\/em>. His works are still sometimes obliterated by zealous local officials, street cleaners or – as in this case – taken off buildings along with a chunk of wall for private sale (Source: Associated Press 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Banksy … is a shadowy figure in the art world. He doesn’t give interviews and has gone from being a ‘guerrilla street artist’ to a celebrated one worth millions. There is tension in those two things: On the one hand, he’s a rebel, a critic of both the traditional art world and the government, but on the other hand, his street art is fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars and threatening to erode his street cred (Source: Peralta 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Despite his suspected US$20 million fortune resulting from consumer-driven art sales, Banksy still constantly criticizes the thriving capitalist system of the modern world in his works, drawing attention to the dangerous effects of an ever-growing interconnected economy. \u2026 It is clear that Banksy is pushing for change (Source: Brenner 2019, p.35).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[His] art addresses themes that are explicitly political in nature and often satirical in tone, taking aim at the cruelty and venality at the heart of contemporary capitalism. His most famous works include \u2018One Nation Under CCTV\u2019 (a commentary on the pervasiveness of state surveillance in the UK); \u2018Flying Balloon Girl\u2019 (a silhouette of a girl being lifted up by balloons that\u2019s painted on the side of the Israeli West Bank barrier, symbolizing a desire for freedom from occupation); and \u2018Slave Labour\u2019 (Source: Butler & Loacker 2022, p.3 link).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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His works often mock society but are also usually open to interpretation. In this sense, the majority of his pieces can be viewed as promoting social change. Using a unique and recognizable stenciled style, his graffiti and the occasional statue have been shocking the modern art world. Each of his works are left in hidden places, often found by passersby in strange and secluded locations. No matter the placing or content of his works, each depicts controversial political messages, alluding to very specific aspects of modern society Banksy seems to think are deserving of society\u2019s attention … His signature graffiti style seeks to shock and galvanize a seemingly dormant public into realizing and addressing largely ignored social and political issues; however, it is not just the art itself, but the form of his work, that aims to inspire change (Source: Brenner 2019, p.35).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Much of the controversial artist’s work is believed to have a political message, and Slave Labour<\/em> is believed to be a statement on sweatshops churning out decorations and memorabilia for the Golden Jubilee and the London … 2012 Olympics (Source: Webb 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… [a] depict[ion of] the dangers of modern capitalism, sending the signal that both companies and consumers are guilty of unseen and unreported crimes (Source: Brenner 2019, p.35).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[It] was Banksy\u2019s gift to the British public (Source: Myska in Where The Wall 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In [2008] …, [Banksy] introduced an authentication service, Pest Control, intended to regulate the market for his paintings and street murals. Pest Control routinely fails to authenticate site-specific pieces, citing the artist\u2019s desire to keep his public works in their original contexts. Sotheby\u2019s, Christie\u2019s International and other leading auctioneers will not offer works without this certification (Source: Reyburn 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The context-defined nature of Banksy\u2019s work is [one] of his distinctive hallmarks. … The mural Slave Labour<\/em> (Bunting Boy), which appeared on the side of a Poundland discount store in south London in 2012, depicts a child sweatshop worker manufacturing a string of three-dimensional plastic Union Jack bunting like that offered for sale in the store. Banksy\u2019s placement was widely understood as an indictment of Poundland\u2019s reliance on child labor in its supply chains (Source: Doering 2021, p.454).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The fact that it was a Poundland wall was coincidental: From Banksy’s website at the time – ‘I painted this on the side of Poundland in North London. A shop which sells cheap jubilee merchandise, is located on the route of the Olympic torch relay and was caught using sweatshop labour two years ago. But I only discovered any of this afterwards – I just thought it was a nice coloured wall’ (Source: EMC2 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Children are a vehicle often used by Banksy to deliver a message about the inherent inhumanity of deprivation, subjugation and violence. … the child depicted in kneeling servitude in Slave Labour<\/em> is representative of a multitude of children who exist under such conditions. The life-sized figure of the boy gives human form to the otherwise invisible 215 million child labourers aged between 5 and 17 years old worldwide. The juxtaposition of the figure of a child with the activity of enforced labour should be as surprising, ridiculous and arresting as the depiction of a child embracing a bomb, or stop and searching a soldier. That it is not \u2013 that the viewer does not, at first, see the boy as anything other than a veridical representation of a fixed and determinate socio-political reality \u2013 is the shameful source of the work\u2019s power. We are all implicated in his subjugation (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.902).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Emotions are often the key that unlocks one\u2019s relationship with a cultural text. … [So, w]hat did the customers of the Poundland discount store (known for the promotional sales of branded products for one pound each) feel when they saw Banksy\u2019s mural … on the wall of the shop, showing a boy with Asian features, hunched over a sewing machine and producing pennants with the flag of Great Britain? Is it possible to present the problem of the West\u2019s abuse of cheap labour from the poorer parts of the world in a more explicit way? … Entering into a relationship with works of popular art may result in the emergence of dissonance (or disorienting dilemma) in the individual, and then to reflection on the existing patterns and their incompatibility with the newly introduced information (Mezirow 2000). In this way, popular art, which in the first place has an influence on the emotions of the recipient, paves the way for transformative learning: it becomes its catalyst (Source: Litawa 2023, p.893-4).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Although street art is often characterized by a certain fragility and apparent ephemerality, it is also the case that such art – especially works by famous street artists like Banksy – are preserved through the digital images taken by both professional photographers as well as fans and admirers. These images are then posted online or perhaps used to create high-quality reproductions, some of which are even placed in galleries. Such technical reproductions allow the ‘original’ creation to continue to exist so that future presentations and enactments of its subject matter are possible (Source: Nielsen 2023, p.7).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

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When I saw this, Poundland were actually selling the selfsame identical bunting and it was strung up in the windows, so there was a definite comment going on about the National \/ monarchist pride and unseen exploitation the other side of the world, as well as Poundland (Source: Key 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Just like the Olympics, the wave of tacky Jubilee merchandise engulfing our high streets is from sweatshops in poorer countries. Our consumerist celebration is at their expense. The word jubilee comes from the Hebrew y\u014dbh\u0113l<\/em>, the ram\u2019s horn that was blown to announce the year of Jubilee. According to the law of Moses, every fifty years would be a year of celebration. Slaves would go free. Land that had been sold would be returned to its original owner. Debts would be cancelled, and even the land itself would lie fallow for the year. It was a year for social justice and a fresh start, as well as a big national celebration. We need that kind of jubilee more than ever, and with no concern for anyone but ourselves, ours is a rather empty occasion by comparison (Source: Williams 2012, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The piece … eventually became an important attraction in Haringey, drawing so many visitors to the neighborhood from London and beyond that the local subway station posted a sign reading ‘This way to our Banksy’ (Source: Salib 2015, p.2294).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Poundland welcomed the arrival of the piece, saying they were ‘fans of Banksy’, but rejecting any suggestion they were the target of his satire. Tim McDonnell, the store’s retail director, said: ‘Poundland has a clear defined code of conduct for all our suppliers and a strong ethical stance on all labour issues’ (Source: Anon 2013c, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Curious passers-by have been scrutinising the stencilled image, which was adorned with real bunting. One man travelled from Heathrow Airport having just arrived in the UK from Spain. Jason Cobham, 44, from Wood Green, said: ‘I definitely think it’s a Banksy. It keeps you thinking about the plight of child labourers.’ He added: ‘I’d pay more than a pound for it. If I could get it off the wall I’d pay a lot of money for it. Haringey should celebrate it’ (Source: Anon 2012, np link<\/a>). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I think he puts as much thought into location as he does design. No coincidence then that he chose the wall he did – attached to poundland and on the Olympic torch route. Again [this] all adds to the discussion which is what art is all about (Source: Marie 2013a, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s a work of art, so of course I enjoy it. It will probably put house prices up in the area \u2013 that\u2019s what has happened in areas where he has been before. I don\u2019t see why anyone should object \u2013 all it means is the area has arrived. He isn\u2019t attacking the area he is attacking the businesses in the area which exploit people in sweatshops (Source: Longshaw in Leigh 2012, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Poundland spokesman said the retailer enjoyed Banksy\u2019s art and said suppliers met ethical guidelines (Source: Anon 2012, np link<\/a>). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In February 2013, Slave Labour<\/em> was removed from the wall … (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p901) .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… resulting in a media frenzy and wild speculation as to its whereabouts, within just two days it surfaced at a Miami auction house making headlines worldwide (Source: M2 Presswire 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Now on bbc.co.uk ‘Banksy mural vanishes from London, appears at US auction’ (Source: Laura 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Its now the second most read story on the BBC (Source: 24v84qaobyku4 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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For a few days now I’ve suspected something was afoot with Turnpike Lane’s Banksy; it’s been surrounded by scaffolding and tarpaulin since Wednesday – and there was a security van present for much of that time. This morning I had a sneaky look under said tarpaulin to find it had been removed. I spoke to the guy rendering the wall and he said that after repeated attempts to gouge it out, the owner of the Poundland building had decided to take steps to ‘preserve’ it. He wasn’t sure where it’s gone. .. one can only wonder if it’s been sold. Sad to see it go – it was nice to have a landmark of sorts (Source: AntK 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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That’s sad and disappointing. I know it was on private property but I always felt it was ‘our’ Banksy. My husband took a really good photo of it before the plastic was put around it and we have it framed in our wall. I will miss walking past it everyday (Source: Marie 2013b, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If being bummed out about interesting street art being removed is middle class and angsty, I’m happy to be tarred with that brush (Source: Box 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Art for the most part remains the property of collectors and therefore the rich. I guess everytime Banksy creates something like this, he is open to the irony that is may be used in ways that are contrary to the points he is trying to make. But that is ironic in itself. I’m pleased it was here and made an impression. It would be nice if the community benefited somehow from the sale, but human greed being what it is, I somehow doubt it (Source: CanadianMichael 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Well put …, I agree with everything you say. I live a stones throw from where is was and there was a real buzz when it appeared, it certainly did make an impression. You don’t need to be middle class to appreciate it or enjoying debating the meaning of it or to miss it either (Source: Marie 2013b, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Art is a business and those free marketeers are not too bothered about context, community ownership or public access where there’s a buck to be made (Source: Liz 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[N]otice how easily Banksy\u2019s artworks are gobbled up by the economic order they set out to challenge. If they are not defaced or destroyed, or preserved for posterity beneath a sheet of Perspex, the murals are often removed from the public spaces in which they appear \u2013 a process that involves specialized crews removing entire sections of wall \u2013 and sold off in auctions for hundreds of thousands of pounds, dollars, or euros. In other words, the labour that Banksy freely gives is turned into pure profit by the very system that is subject to critique (Source: Butler & Loacker 2022, p.3 link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If this kind of thing is to continue then one way to prevent further plunder is for authentic Banksy’s to be listed as soon as they are acknowledged (Source: Liz 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[Slave Labour’<\/em>s removal left] the outline of the space occupied by the original work visible as a raised rectangular seam … [and] an unpainted and apparently still damp and freshly cemented section of the wall (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.901 & 902) .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Protests were held at the site of removal, with residents brandishing signs that read ‘Bring back our Banksy’. These protests were grounded in the community\u2019s originally recognised claim over the work as belonging in \u2013 and to \u2013 its community of origin (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.901) .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[Its] removal was [also] the catalyst for a series of often self-consciously egalitarian works of aesthetic protest … a visual cacophony of protest and loss … [including] an explosion of graffiti, stencils and paste ups marking the site of removal (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.899 & 902).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The community protest against Slave Labour\u2019s removal was … registered on the wall itself. These initial responses provide a visual cacophony of protest and loss. Much of this work appears an index of community grief at the loss of Slave Labour<\/em>. This is a self-governing multiparty conversation. The contributors include both locally recognised street artists and unknown writers. Unlike a curated gallery space, the extramural space of the city wall positions the viewer as an interlocutor with the right to ‘talk back’. As with any ‘public’ conversation with multiple contributors, some of the ‘talk’ appears ‘off topic’ and made for the sheer sake of being a part of the conversation and making one\u2019s mark; some delight in being ostentatious or crude and shocking … ; some are hurried and scrawled; others are planned and articulate. However, the vast majority of marks on the wall made here appear site and topic specific, and designed to be received as evidence of the force of the people\u2019s outrage at the removal, without consultation or warning, of Slave Labour (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2016, p.109).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Much of this work is an index of community grief at the loss of Slave Labour<\/em>. A large paste up of a weeping nun was positioned directly over the site of extraction; and a red heart was spray painted on the right-hand corner of the site, dripping red paint onto the wounded wall. Other pieces mark the level of community outrage at the \u2018theft\u2019 of the work for private auction, and the commodification of Banksy\u2019s \u2018gift\u2019 to the community. A stencilled paste-up reading \u2018Caution: Thieves at Work\u2019 abuts the left side of the space left by the extracted work; and dollar notes have been pasted around the perimeters of the site of extraction (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.902-3).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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(Source: G Travels 2013, np link<\/a> – CC BY-NC 2.0).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Another stencil … emulat[ed] the design of Slave Labour<\/em> … However, instead of producing cut-price jubilee bunting, the figure at the sewing machine now produces American dollars, which spew out from the machine onto the pavement in a three-dimensional pasted paper overflow. The only major difference between Slave Labour<\/em> and this new stencil is that the boy\u2019s head has been replaced by an oversized nozzle of a spray can, which identifies the piece as being work by the local street artist Cap Head. This work appears to provide further commentary on the complicit nature of commercially successful street artists in \u2018selling out\u2019 (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.904-5).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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There are also pieces that reference Banksy\u2019s other work, and that of associated artists. To the left of the wall is a small stencilled rat in the style of Banky\u2019s influential French precursor, Blek le Rat, holding a tiny spray can and a sign repeating the demand of the community protesters. Another stencilled rat in similar proportion, but in the recognizable style of Banksy, sits at the same level to the right of the site of extraction. This rat holds a placard with a single-word protest \u2013 \u2018Why?\u2019 This is a democratic multiparty conversation. The contributors include both locally recognized street artists and unknown writers drawn to the site. Unlike curated gallery space, which offers the public a relatively passive position as viewer (though viewing is arguably always an active process), the extramural space of the city wall positions the public as interlocutors with the right to speak (Source: Hansen & Flynn 2015, p.902-3).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Given our new found status as an art mecca is now firmly established, can we please have an arts centre in wood green (Source: paddyk 2013, np link<\/a>)?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Referring to the new [Banksy-like rat] stencil, solicitors for the building\u2019s owner said their client was ‘taking steps to secure this and will be asking Haringey council to take responsibility for the costs of such security’. A council spokesman said: ‘There\u2019s nothing to suggest this latest stencil is an authentic Banksy, although we would be happy to discuss security concerns with the owners’ (Source: Batchelor 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Locals are furious about the painting being stolen. Councillor Alan Strickland says the artwork was a ‘gift’ to his community and has instigated a campaign to get the artwork returned by urging people to e-mail the U.S. auction website. He said: ‘The Banksy appeared last May and created lots of excitement in the area – people were coming from across London to see it. We were really proud to have a Banksy in our neighbourhood, so residents were shocked to realise it had been ripped out of the wall. The community feels that this art was given to us, for free, and it’s now been taken away to be sold for huge profit. I’m very angry about the Banksy going – we want our Banksy back!’ (Source: Webb 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Banksy Slave Labour<\/em> could fetch nearly half a million at auction. … Gallery owner Frederic Thut told The Sun<\/em> that it was being sold by a \u2018well-known\u2019 collector who is not British but refused to divulge any more information. He added that the painting was being stored in Europe (Source: Webb 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The thieving scum. It was produced to highlight Poundland’s use of practically slave labour to produce their crap and now they’ve torn it down to cash in on that too. Vile (Source: Richards-Davies 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Poundland say they are not behind the removal of the artwork … A spokesman said: ‘We’re not responsible for either selling or removing the Banksy mural. We’re currently investigating’. A Met Police spokesman said the removal has not been reported as a crime (Source: Webb 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[Gallery owner] Mr Thut … said that the owner’s prime motive for the sale was to conserve artwork that might otherwise be lost, and that the buyer would be supplied with a letter of provenance. ‘Our consignors are not gamblers or money-makers. They are people whose first interest is in art and its preservation,’ he said. ‘We respect our clients and their confidentiality. It’s not our decision to have (the Banksy) returned. We only sell it. We do not have control of it.’ Thut, however, said that he supported the inclusion of the piece, and a second Banksy entitled Wet Dog, a 2007 artwork removed from the West Bank of Bethlehem and estimated in value between $600,000 and $800,000, in Saturday’s 118-lot Modern, Contemporary and Street Art sale. ‘It’s about conservation: here’s a piece of art, [and] we are going to protect it,’ he said. ‘It could have been destroyed. When you try to make an event with a speciality you want the best lots, and Banksy is a part of the street art scene’ (Source: Luscombe 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Who placed the work in the auction is a mystery. Wood Green Investments, the property company which owns the Poundland unit, has remained silent throughout the dispute … It is a mystery of disappearing street art, stretching from a north London street to a high-end Miami auction house. The investigation, initiated by Haringey council, now involves the British government, the Arts Council, the Metropolitan Police and the FBI \u2013 yet all have failed to cast light on who chiselled a Banksy mural from the side of a Poundland shop last Saturday (Source: Batchelor 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A solicitor for … Wood Green Investments … told the Financial Times: ‘If they deny removing the mural they will become embroiled in an international criminal investigation that has already involved the FBI, but if they admit to consenting to (its removal) then they will become the target of abuse. As a consequence, the advice to my client has been to say nothing’ (Source: Anon 2013b, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Several months on, people still haven\u2019t got answers about why it was removed or who took it, and people have been disappointed that [the owners of the building] have refused to say anything about what they know. … Local campaigners are angry that a work that was intended to be free for all to see has been taken away to sell to a private collector (Source: BBCTV News 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The removal of Banksy\u2019s work has raised questions over the preservation and ownership of public art. Property lawyers believe the owner of the building would be entitled to sell the mural. ‘The local authority can\u2019t really do much, except try and get the building listed or get English Heritage involved,’ said Daniel Levy, real estate partner at Mishcon de Reya (Source: Batchelor 2013, np).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[Councillor] Alan Strickland … is asking people to email the auction house to ask them to withdraw the Banksy from sale. … Pls RT. Save our Banksy from sale. Let’s all email art company auctioning it on [email deleted]. Tell them to withdraw it from auction (Source: K 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The piece … was a bit of a cheeky critique of capitalism, so the idea that that piece is now being sold in Miami, I think runs completely counter to the spirit in which it was given (Source: Strickland in Where the Wall 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Am I the only one who finds deeply ironic, perhaps insulting in some respects to his message, that his work which criticises capitalism and consumerism in particular is then consumed by some person willing to pay thousands for it, probably in an act of conspicuous consumption (Source: heffalump232 2012, np link<\/a>)?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I find the privatization of Banksy\u2019s mural Slave Labour<\/em>, art intended for the people, incredibly depressing (Source: Creagh 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It meant so much to the area \u2013 one of the hardest hit during the London riots in 2011 (Source: Trifunov 2016, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Haringey Council leader Cllr Claire Kober said: ‘As the clock ticks towards auction we are stepping up the fight to secure the return of our Banksy. We want to explore all avenues for getting back this important mural and having written to the Arts Council and Fine Arts Auction Miami earlier in the week we are now appealing to the Mayor of Miami Tom\u00e1s Regalado and the highest ranked of our own politicians in the culture department’ (Source: Elgot 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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[T]he Arts Council has said there is little it can do as the mural is less than 50 years old and excluded from Export Control under current rules. ‘As a result, Arts Council England is unable to directly intervene in this instance,’ chair Sir Peter Bazalgette said. ‘It is a shame that a piece of street art that is well loved by the local community has been removed for auction,’ he added (Source: Anon 2013d, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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We don’t own the building we find it depressing too, like everyone else we petitioned for it to stop being sold \ud83d\ude41 (Source: Poundland 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Though many stories circulated suggesting that the work was stolen, it turned out that the owner of the building arranged for its removal and sale (Source: Chused 2019, p.44).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Council leader Claire Kober said in an open letter to [ gallery ] owner Frederic Thut: ‘We understand that there may be nothing illegal in the way this artwork was quietly removed from our streets and put up for auction by you in Miami. But for you to allow it to be sold for huge profit in this way would be morally wrong.’ Thut said he had received hundreds of angry phone calls but that the sale was legally, the owner was not British and had sold the piece in order to conserve it. ‘It’s been said that the artwork was stolen, and that is just not true. … We take a lot of care with our consignors, who they are, what they do, and if there’s any illegality we will not touch it. Everything is checked out 150%.’ But he also told ITV in a later interview that if anyone could prove the Banksy had been stolen he would take it off the market (Source: Elgot 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In both the … removal and sale of Slave Labor<\/em> (Bunting Boy), Banksy owned the copyrights in the works, but not the physical marks on the walls. Thinking in property-like terms, the owners of the building owned the physical qualities of the Banksy creation. If they wanted to sell it, so be it. But Banksy has said that when he puts up
a work in a widely visible location, his intention is to make a gift to the public, not to the owner of the building the creation rests upon. Is it appropriate to offer up for sale a work the artist has dedicated to the public or declared to be non-transferable (Source: Chused 2019, p.44)?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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So, where is that petition asking Banksy NOT TO authenticate this? In my view this would be the only way to undermine this auction (Source: Mary 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Slave Labour<\/em> hasn\u2019t been endorsed by [Banksy’s] Pest Control, according to the Fine Art Auctions Miami online catalog (Source: Reyburn 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Marc Schiller, founder of the street art website woostercollective.com and who claims to be a friend of Banksy, told the Guardian that the work was worthless in an art auction because it was only ever intended as a piece of location-specific social commentary. ‘I’m not buying the argument that because Banksy put a piece in public it gives a person the right to steal and resell it,’ he said. ‘When he is on the street he is giving his work to the public to enjoy for a day, a month, a year or more. His position has been that if you take his work out of its context it’s not his work any more, it’s no longer a Banksy. Sotheby’s and Christie’s would not touch it, and the only way you can sell it is through shady circumstances, by keeping yourself anonymous and never telling how you got it, how it came to be.’ He added that he doubted the auction would be successful. ‘The truth is that it’s worthless, and even if somebody buys it for whatever price, their only opportunity is to look at it from the perspective that it was acquired by theft,’ he said. ‘No legitimate collector would buy it. My argument is not that the sale shouldn’t happen; it’s that there shouldn’t be a market for it’ (Source: Luscombe 2013 np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The mural Slave Labour <\/em>… appeared at a Miami auction, but … (Source: Anon 2013a, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… was withdrawn moments before it was due to go under the hammer (Source: Batty 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Surprisingly … the auction house … did not add further explanations, but it is plausible that the vigorous protest of the Haringey community as well as the lack of the artist’s authentication played a decisive role in this decision (Source: Frigerio & Khakimova 2013, p.42 link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Claire Kober, Leader of Haringey Council, … said: ‘It’s a true credit to the community that their campaigning appears to have helped to stop the sale of this artwork from going ahead. We will continue to explore all options to bring back Banksy to the community where it belongs’ (Source: Anon 2013b, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A Banksy artwork that went missing from a wall in north London is being auctioned for a second time … in London by the Sincura Group … (Source: Anon 2013a, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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… prompting condemnation from north London campaigners and officials (Source: Batty 2013, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The minimum bid is \u00a3900,000 (Source: Anon 2013a, np link<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Love the #banksy #slavelabour art has vanished & reappeared up for auction 4 \u00a3900k amazing artwork & mysterious banksy How does he do it (Source: RachelHolmes 2013b, np link<\/a>)?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Thieving, greedy, criminal b*stards! Put it back, philistines (Source: Davy_A1965 2013, np link<\/a>)!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Anyone who attempts to buy that #banksy #slavelabour is a Dick and entirely missing the point (Source: Lou Matthews 2013, np link<\/a>)!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lucky enough to be at @Sincura<\/a> Banksy Art Sale Sunday & see #Slavelabour<\/a> displayed, fabulous piece of art #banksy<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/VXjs4sImUo<\/a><\/p>— Me About Town (@Me_About_Town) June 3, 2013<\/a><\/blockquote>