Trying a new technique to further his political activism, Banksy has announced that he will be releasing a new print soon to coincide with the UK Elections on June 9th. He explains – “This limited edition artwork on archival quality paper is completely free, but is only available to registered voters in the Bristol North West, Bristol West, North Somerset, Thornbury, Kingswood and Filton constituencies. Simply send in a photo of your ballot paper from polling day showing you voted against the Conservative candidate and this complimentary gift will be mailed to you.”
UPDATE:
Few hours after Banksy announced his project people started questioning the legal aspects of his proposition. Bristol Labour Party allegedly sent out warnings that this could render any ballot invalid and therefore actually help the conservatives, and the Avon & Somerset Police published a statement regarding the issue on their Twitter:
Statement in relation to the offer of a free #Banksy print in exchange for people voting a certain way in the forthcoming general election. pic.twitter.com/XtV5T0Qnbn
— Avon&Somerset Police (@ASPolice) June 5, 2017
Eventually the artist had to recall the entire offer which was announced last night via his Instagram:
Was this bad planning by the artist and his team or was it all part of the plan all along, we will never know for sure. But once again Banksy managed to get himself into the international headlines and make it very clear what he thinks about the political situation in his homeland and the upcoming elections.
Discuss Banksy here.
