Some Clarifications..

Hello, 

Let me start off by saying I'm absolutely thrilled how this issue has sparked a variety of contrasting reactions among members of our society. I would like to take this chance and let my audience know just how much I appreciate the standard of dialogue taking place.

I have been receiving quite a lot of emails and comments highlighting some concerns regarding the details of this story. I am more than happy to clarify them all. First off, I did not “assume” authorities vandalized my graffiti. I know that for a fact, as I have personally witnessed it. In regards to the seemingly ambiguous label I have used to refer to institutions of power “authorities”, I think we can all agree that the nature of this story is highly sensitive. Therefore, even though I know exactly which types of officials were involved, I am not prepared to disclose that information. That is why I opted to use the word “authorities”, since its vagueness suits the circumstances.

As to what the abbreviations AMK stand for, others and I have carefully considered and analyzed the situation in its entirety. Having done that we drew our interpretation accordingly. Which was mainly based on what was written in Arabic "لعنكم الله" “Allah Damn You”, "الله أكبر" “God is Great” and "قل وجاء ألحق" "Say the Truth hath Prevailed". We might be wrong here, if you think these abbreviations mean otherwise please do let me know.

While I have mentioned before just how shocked I am with the outcomes, never in a million years would I have expected the authorities to have such an adverse reaction. One thing we must keep in mind is that the authorities are people too. A great number of people in Jordan have varied prejudices and religious beliefs. Ergo the notion that one may possibly belong to a certain part of Jordanian society who would use harsh phrases such as “May Allah Curse You” is not farfetched. 

I guess at the end of the day this was what motivated me to expose the story. This is something that worries and surprises me as much as it worries and surprises you. Thank you for questioning me. I hope this has shed more light on the issue.
Feel free to email me at: banksyimnot@gmail.com

Cheers,

Banksy I’m Not

Evil? Creative-mess

Art! Talaween! Graffiti! Kharabeesh!

What is art?

Art is simply a form of self-expression; the ultimate art is to define one’s presence. Art is driven by the need to live, exist, learn, feel, grow, thrive, hate and love.

Fact: people have been writing on walls all throughout history. This may come as a surprise to some, but graffiti existed even before language did; Cavemen were the first artists to paint on walls. Ancient Romans tagged the sides of buildings in the villages and cities they conquered. As it happens to be, this form of tagging was and still is called graffiti.

Fast-forward to our day and age and it can be noted that graffiti branched into a variety of different classifications. Personally, I’m only concerned with the modern offspring of ‘traditional’ graffiti specifically its artistic aspect.

Having no choice but to be constantly bombarded with the greatest eyesore in the history of the universe “لتشييك مزارعكم” I promised my self to mix it up a bit and spray something decent for once around Amman. I’m only kidding of course! My true motivation stems from being the environmentally concerned type of person I am. With that being said, I felt the need to communicate something real and relevant. Something that directly affects each and everyone of us living in Jordan.

Although many may not know this officially this year has been the driest on record since 1992. Today both short and long-range forecasts do not look promising. Knowing this I re-appropriated one of Banksy’s graffiti’s to convey the progressively decreasing amounts of rain Jordan is receiving. For those of you who don’t know Banksy, he is considered to be the most compelling graffiti artist of our time.

And so a couple of weeks ago I whipped up some stencils and with the help of my close friends we managed to spray a decent amount around west Amman, mainly in Abdoun. If anything this image is meant to be raw, challenging and thought provoking in hopes of stimulating interest and dialogue on this vital subject matter.

As I have initially hoped there was a substantial public reaction to this graffiti, however the holistic outcome has exceeded any and all expectations. It is quite unfortunate the majority of people have failed to grasp the true meaning behind this graffiti along with all the connotations involved. Out of the many false and might I add crazy interpretations I have come across, the most concerning of all is that of the Jordanian authorities. Furthermore the actions undertook to ‘resolve’ this matter is unsettling. Sitting here writing this blog post, I am as shocked as I have been the first time I have learned that this graffiti has been officially interpreted to symbol for a devil worshiping sect!

It boggles me how such a dramatic and outrageous interpretation could have been made. This could not be further from the truth! How could one jump to such a drastic conclusion without considering the intended features of the image first?

The following pictures are the authorities extreme, unnecessary and somewhat delusional response to the graffiti.

Just to point it out the abbreviations A.M.K stand for Allah - Mohammad - Kareem

How can anyone take a girl holding an umbrella asking "where is the rain?" to be anything other than what it is; a girl asking why people of the world are destroying our planets’ natural environment to the extent that it is changing our climate.

I can’t help but wonder just how underdeveloped we really are. Are we living in times of witchery to be condemned so brutally? Couldn’t this situation be handled in a more decent and civilized manner? I do acknowledge the fact that graffiti is a form of vandalism.  In fact, if you think about it authorities also responded with graffiti, horrible graffiti might I add. The official actions taken just go to show how precious funds, energy and time are being wasted so blatantly. We preach innovation and creativity but the reality of the situation stands before you.
Feel free to email me at: banksyimnot@gmail.com

Thank you for reading,

Cheers, 


P.S This has not discouraged me