Banksy Portrays Steve Jobs as a Syrian Refugee
'Apple is the world's most profitable company — and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs,' the street artist said.
British graffiti artist Banksy unveiled on Friday his latest migration-themed murals on walls in public spaces in and around the refugee camp located near Calais, France.
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The main character in the new series is a portrait of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, whose father immigrated to the United States from Syria, portrayed as a refugee.
“We're often led to believe migration is a drain on the country's resources, but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant," the artists said through his website. "Apple is the world's most profitable company, it pays over $7 billion a year in taxes—and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs," the artist said.
Banksy made four murals in and around Calais. He wrote the words, "Maybe this whole situation will just sort itself out" on a wall in the refugee camp, which has been nicknamed "The jungle." Inside Calais, he made a drawing that parodied Théodore Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa," which hangs in the Louvre. While the original portrayed survivors of a shipwreck with no rescue in sight, Banksy's version shows migrants crowded on a raft, trying to wave down a cruise ship.
Banksy drew at another site an image of a boy holding a telescope with a vulture sitting on top of it. Banksy announced in September that he would send materials from the temporary theme park that he established next to Bristol, Dismaland, to the refugee camp, in which thousands of refugees and migrants are residing. Timbers from the park are being used to build shelters in the refugee camp.