Migrant raft poster at Glastonbury. 19 July 2025

There has been some controversy over whether it is a work by Banksy. We now know it is.

The motive relates to Banksy’s intervention at the 2024 edition of the festival, where he released a migrant raft during The Idles’ set on the main stage. See previous post: https://banksyunofficial.com/2024/07/01/banksy-confirms-migrant-raft-at-glastonbury-30-june-2024/

The poster was on sale for a few days at the La Linterna printshop at Glastonbury, until they sold out. It’s the second year that Team Banksy has collaborated with the Colombian printers. Last year’s posters by Team Banksy were numbers 1 and 4 in the display below:

La Linterna is a historic printing shop located in the San Antonio neighbourhood of Cali, Colombia, founded in 1934. It specialises in the artisanal printing of posters using traditional techniques such as linocut and movable type. The printing shop is notable for preserving antique machines, some from the 19th century. Thanks to their artisanal process, each poster is unique and an authentic work of art. La Linterna has a European branch that collaborates with different summer festivals. Source: https://lalinternacali.com and @lalinternacali

Banksy confirms migrant raft at Glastonbury. 30 June 2024

The migrant raft appeared during the Idles’ set on the evening of Friday, 28 June. The raft’s release coincided perfectly with the band singing “My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant” from their 2018 hit song Danny Nedelko.

Screenshot from videoclip posted on @banksy

Terminal 1 at Glastonbury

Another interesting art event at Glastonbury is the Terminal 1 installation. It is rumoured that Banksy bought the dismantled terminal building at an auction organised by CAA after Heathrow Terminal 1 closed in 2015, making way for Terminal 2. Although Banksy’s involvement has not yet been confirmed, it undoubtedly draws on his style of art activism, and it has a certain air of Dismaland.

Among the participating artists in the Terminal 1 project are Love Watts, Yoshi Sodeoka, and Mark Wallinger, winner of the 2007 Turner Prize for State Britain, a replica of Brian Haw’s protest camp against the Iraq war. 

Photo: The Guardian

The manifesto from the Terminal 1 installation reads like this:

“None of us can take credit for where we were born. None of us have the moral right to deprive our fellow humans of resources and opportunities just because they happened to start life somewhere else. And that’s it. To hold this feeling in our hearts – whenever we talk about migration it should be from a position of kindness, humility and good grace.”

As reported by The Guardian on 29 June 2024:

‘Reminder we are all humans’: Glastonbury’s Terminal 1 shows dark side of arriving in UK

Installation shows experiences of immigration for many as politicians try to exploit issue in run-up to election.

You approach a desk and are met by two stern immigration officials. A line of instructions and questions are barked at you: “Stand shoulder to shoulder”; “Look me in the eyes”; “Are you British?”

This is the welcome visitors receive at Terminal 1, a new area at this year’s Glastonbury festival ran by artists who are all migrants and which gives attenders a taste of what it feels like to sample British border “hospitality”. Emblazoned with the old sign from Heathrow’s Terminal 1, the new area had a long line outside it on Saturday morning as dozens of festival-goers waited their turn to be grilled.

To enter Terminal 1, they must answer a question from the British citizenship test. If they do not know, for example, that members of the public typically cannot attend a youth court hearing, entry could be denied.

“When the audience come through this we’re hoping for them to have a bit of an awakening,” says Miguel Hernando Torres Umba, the performance director. He said he wanted people to come away with an experience of what immigration was like for “the majority of people around the globe”.

The area has already been dubbed the “woke new stage” by the Daily Mail but Hernando Torres Umba says the area’s themes are universal. “Terminal 1’s message is no one is illegal. That is our message … to remind us all that we all humans, we are all migrants one way or another,” he added.

Ahead of the event’s launch, a real immigration issue presented the team with a problem: one of the curators had his visa denied. “He wasn’t able to attend the festival even though he had the backing of the festival,” says Hernando Torres Umba.

The theme of immigration can be found everywhere Glastonbury this year. Banksy’s latest Glastonbury stunt – sending out an inflatable dinghy with dummies representing child migrants during Idles’ headlining set – ensured the issue of immigration was beamed out live on the BBC.

The topic has been one of the overarching themes of the upcoming general election, whether Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”, Keir Starmer and Labour’s plan to establish a “command centre” to deter those trying to enter across the British Channel or Reform’s promise of “net zero migration”.

Another obvious reference at the area is the Rwanda bill, the Conservative plan to send asylum seekers to the east African country.

Terminal 1 approaches the topic in a novel way: after the initial barrage of questions and a terse security check, you enter “Rwanda Duty Free” where you are told about the culture of a country that has found itself in the middle of a culture war in the UK.

Hernando Torres Umba said the area was designed as a counter to the prevailing negative narrative about Rwanda, with artists from the country welcoming visitors. “Rwanda has been used as a deterrent, as a place we should be scared of,” he said. “But Rwandans haven’t had the right to speak and say: ‘Hey, this is where we are’.”

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/29/reminder-we-are-all-humans-glastonburys-terminal-1-shows-dark-side-of-arriving-in-uk

Banksy designs stab-proof vest for Stormzy. 28 June 2019

Banksy comments on the knife-stabbing epidemic with a stab-proof vest for Croydon-born superstar Stormzy to wear at his headlining act at Glastonbury.

In his own words:

I made a customised stab-proof vest and thought – who could possibly wear this? Stormzy at Glastonbury.”

20190629 - Original - Stabproof vest - Banksy Instagram.png
Photo: Banksy’s Instagram

A few days later, Banksy published a Stormzy clip on his Youtube channel:

Stormzy backstage at Glastonbury 2019