Banksy offered Ukraine hope by making graffiti works on its war-damaged walls. Now, the elusive street artist is selling some of their prints to raise money for aid.
Fifty signed prints featuring a rat, a symbol that repeats in Banksy's anti-authoritarian art, will be sold, with the proceeds going to international charity Legacy of War Foundation.
Banksy said that while in Ukraine, they saw the foundation help people in very dire situations. The organisation also offered them one of their ambulances to work from.
"It extremely useful when an angry babushka found me painting on her building and called the Police," the artist said. "I feel the least I should do is raise enough money to replace the number plates on the ambulance I hotted up."
Each of Banksy's rat prints will sell for £5000, plus taxes. They are all unique, with a different pattern carved out using pizza cutters.
Also read: Banksy in Ukraine: how his defiant new works offer hope
A picture of the work on the foundation's website showed a rat making its way down a cardboard box labelled "fragile", leaving claw marks.
"The production process involves Banksy attacking every print with a sharpened pizza cutter - they are each unique and will differ slightly from the one pictured," Legacy of War Foundation said.
Money raised by selling the prints will be used to buy urgently needed ambulances and support vehicles.
"These are needed in Donbas for the continued evacuation of persons with disabilities, the elderly and civilian casualties," said the charity's CEO Giles Duley.
The foundation will also supply heaters and solar-powered lights to the citizens left without power in a brutal winter. " And we will be able to continue our support for shelters in Kyiv for women and the LGBTQ community," Duley added.
Banksy has expressed support for Ukraine by painting images of defiance. Last month, they had unveiled a gymnast graffiti on a ruined building in Borodyanka town.
Another graffiti had appeared in Hostomel near Kyiv, showing a woman in in a nightgown, wearing a gas mask and holding a fire extinguisher.
The graffiti had been torn off by some people. The authorities retrieved the work and detained the group.
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