It has been revealed that the street and performance artist Banksy was behind a stunt during Idles’ set at Glastonbury, when an inflatable life raft holding dummy migrants was launched across the crowd.
Many in the crowd believed it to be part of Idles’ show, dovetailing with the Bristol punk band’s lyrics about immigration, criticism of rightwing governance and calls for empathy. But a representative for the band announced on Saturday that the boat was created by Banksy, and the band weren’t aware of the stunt until after the set.
The raft, a reference to the small boats carrying migrants across the Channel that have been such a high-profile target of Rishi Sunak’s immigration policy, was crowdsurfed through the thousands-strong Other stage crowd, which Idles were headlining on Friday night.
It was launched during the song Danny Nedelko, which opens with the lyrics:
My blood brother is an immigrant
A beautiful immigrantMy blood brother’s Freddie Mercury
A Nigerian mother of threeHe’s made of bones, he’s made of blood
He’s made of flesh, he’s made of love
He’s made of you, he’s made of me
UnityFear leads to panic, panic leads to pain
Pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate
Banksy has a rich history with the festival. He designed the Union flag-emblazoned stab-proof vest worn by Stormzy during his 2019 Pyramid stage headline set, and in 2014 he commandeered a livestock transportation van that drove around the site with cuddly toys emerging from it. The site has also hosted a number of the artist’s classic stencil artworks, including one in 2010 that made a reappearance in 2022 to mark the festival’s 50th anniversary.
Migration is a major theme at this year’s Glastonbury festival, with a new area dedicated to the topic, Terminal 1, replacing the old William’s Green stage. Entrants to Terminal 1 must answer a question from the UK government’s citizenship test for prospective migrants. Inside is music by representatives from Notting Hill carnival and Bristol’s St Paul’s carnival, alongside visual art by global artists including Love Watts, Yoshi Sodeoka and the Turner prize winner Mark Wallinger.