Flying Balloon Girl
Flying Balloon Girl | |
---|---|
![]() Original mural on the West Bank wall in 2006 | |
Artist | Banksy |
Year | 2005 (2005) |
Flying Balloon Girl, also known as Balloon Debate, is a 2005 stencil mural in the West Bank by the graffiti artist Banksy, depicting a young girl holding a bunch of seven balloons floating above the 8 meter-high wall built around the Palestinian enclave near the Qalandia checkpoint.[1][2]
It represents perhaps the first piece of West Bank Wall graffiti art to have received international acclaim, serving as a form of "transnational and experiential empathy".[3] In its original context, the artwork is thought to refer to the Palestinian right to freedom of movement and possibly to the Palestinian right of return.[4]
It has been described as: "poignantly simple", with its message "as basic as the artwork: through magic realism and notions of childhood innocence, the young girl embodies a dreamy, supernatural hope as the balloons lift her up from her stark surroundings."[5] As such its message has become universal, as John Lennon, associate professor of English at the University of South Florida, describes:[5]
As an image alone, though, there is of course no connection between this girl and the Palestinian desire to return. Instead, Flying Balloon Girl represents a universal desire to magically escape life's difficulties. A decade after Banksy placed the stencil on the Separation Wall, his image has become not a statement on Palestinian rights but a familiar image of the Banksy brand.
See also
- List of works by Banksy
- 2005 in art
References
- ^ Grovier, Kelly (2017-12-15). "How a balloon can be an emblem of hope". BBC. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ Kim, Adela H. (2014-03-26). "Banksy and the Wall". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ Ball, Anna (2013). "Impossible Intimacies: Towards a Visual Politics of "Touch" at the Israeli-Palestinian Border". In A. Valassopoulos (ed.). Arab Cultural Studies: History, Politics and the Popular. Taylor & Francis. pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-1-317-98105-3. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- ^ Lennon, J. (2022). Conflict Graffiti: From Revolution to Gentrification. University of Chicago Press. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-0-226-81567-1. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
Flying Balloon Girl could speak to a transcendent desire to return to a time when no barriers separated Palestinians from their former land.
- ^ a b Lennon, J. (2022). Conflict Graffiti: From Revolution to Gentrification. University of Chicago Press. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-0-226-81567-1. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- v
- t
- e
- Flower Thrower (1999)
- The Mild Mild West (1999)
- Pulp Fiction
- Gorilla in a Pink Mask
- Bombing Middle England
- Girl with Balloon (2002)
- Flying Copper (2003)
- Bomb Hugger (2003)
- Ballerina with Action Man Parts
- Corrupted Oil Jerry (2003)
- Parachuting Rat (2003)
- Space Girl and Bird (2003)
- Kissing Coppers (2004)
- Banksus Militus Ratus (2004)
- Untitled (2004)
- Fragile Silence
- The Drinker (2004)
- Flying Balloon Girl (2005)
- Peckham Rock (2005)
- Show Me the Monet (2005)
- Well Hung Lover (2006)
- Self Portrait
- One Nation Under CCTV (2008)
- Devolved Parliament (2009)
- Forgive Us Our Trespassing
- Follow Your Dreams (2010)
- Cardinal Sin (2011)
- Slave Labour (2012)
- Better Out Than In (2013)
- Girl with a Pierced Eardrum (2014)
- Art Buff (2014)
- Spy Booth (2014)
- The Son of a Migrant from Syria (2015)
- Civilian Drone Strike (2017)
- Love is in the Bin (2018)
- From this moment despair ends and tactics begin (2019)
- Valentine's Banksy (2020)
- Painting for Saints (2020)
- If You Don't Mask, You Don't Get (2020)
- Hula Hooping Girl (2020)
- A Great British Spraycation (2021)
- Solidarity with Ukraine (2022)
- Valentine's day mascara (2023)
- London animal series (2024)
- Turf War (2003)
- Barely Legal (2006)
- The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill (2008)
- Dismaland (2015)
- The Walled Off Hotel (2017)
- Think Tank (2003 album cover)
- Leake Street (2008)
- Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010 documentary)
- "MoneyBart" (2010 TV episode)
- The Antics Roadshow (2011 documentary)
- Banksy Does New York (2014 documentary)
- The Banksy Job (2016 documentary)