Banksy adds a crowd surfing inflatable boat of dummy migrants to Idle’s Glastonbury set

Banksy introduced an inflatable boat populated with dummy migrants during a set by the politically charged Bristol based punk band Idles at this years Glastonbury Festival. Footage and images posted on Banksy’s Instagram show the vessel being crowd surfed around the audience, with it making a second appearance during Little Simz’s performance.
Banksy works have often appeared at Glastonbury in the past – both inside and outside the event. Perhaps the most famous was the vest he gave to Stormzy five years back. Never before, however, have his interventions drawn the ire of the UK’s Home Secretary. The since deposed James Cleverley, spectacularly missed the point of the artwork, telling Sky News: “There are a bunch of people there joking and celebrating about criminal actions which costs lives, people die. People die in the Mediterranean, they die in the Channel. This is not funny. It is vile. It is a celebration of the loss of life in the Channel….the hypocrisy of the left on this issue is breathtaking and to joke about it, to celebrate it at a pop festival when there have been children dying in the Channel is completely unacceptable.”
“Whoosh”, that’s the sound of the point being made by Banksy whizzing over the top of Mr Cleverley’s head.
Banksy took to Instagram again to put a bit of much needed perspective to the Home Secretary’s comments. Posting against a backdrop of a photo of the MV Louise Michel he stated:
“The Home Secretary called my Glastonbury boat ‘vile and unacceptable’ which seemed a bit over the top. The real boat I fund, the MY Louise Michel rescued 17 unaccompanied children from the central Med on Monday night. As punishment the Italian authorities have detained it – which seems vile and unacceptable to me”. Banksy

Whilst Idles have since claimed they knew nothing of the boat in advance it’s worth noting that the boats timing during their set was no accident. It was introduced during one of their career defining songs ‘Danny Nedelko’ from their ‘Joy As An Act Of Resistance’ album. The song embraces the positive relationships we can experience if only we see people as human beings rather than newspaper headlines. Have a listen here, or read the lyrics.
It’s not the first time Banksy and Idles have crossed paths either. In 2019 Banksy designed a festive T Shirt to be sold at the bands sold out gig in Bristol that benefited four charities supporting homeless people in the city through purchasing sleep pods.