Banksy, the street artist has claimed responsibility for a provocative installation that appeared during Idles’ set at Glastonbury Festival. The artwork featured a small boat loaded with lifelike migrant dummies, all donning orange life jackets. It was hoisted into the audience at Worthy Farm as Idles performed on the Other Stage.
Confirming that he was involved, Banksy shared a video of the boat travelling through the crowd on his Instagram page. The stunt took place during the performance of “Danny Nedelko,” a song from “Joy as an Act of Resistance”. The track celebrates immigrant identity and it begins with the lyrics: “My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant.”
Idles expressed their surprise and revealed through The Guardian that they had no knowledge of the demonstration and they actually only discovered it after their set came to finish.
The installation has sparked mixed reactions. Britain’s Home Secretary James Cleverly and Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden criticized the display on X, formerly Twitter, condemning it as inappropriate and controversial.
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