Artist Banksy Sends Pink Rescue Boat to Help Refugees at Sea

Anonymous artist Banksy funded a rescue boat that sailed to the rescue for endangered refugees in the Mediterranean sea.

Banksy is a British artist and activist who, despite his vast fame, prefers to remain anonymous. Banksy aims to shine a light on social and political agendas, having most of his work be some kind of cultural criticism combined with witty illustrations. He produces these illustrations with spray paint and stencils around cities.

Even though Banksy chooses to keep his identity anonymous, he has no problem showing his passion for standing up for what it is thought to be correct, in his own way. In this instance, it is through art. Banksy’s latest act was sending a bright-pink rescue boat, adorned with some of his art, to help refugees who were facing danger in the Mediterranean sea attempting to reach Europe from North Africa.

The rescue-boat is a former French Navy boat now named The Louise Michel. It is named after a 19th Century French anarchist. The rescue-boat is captained by a professional crew with a “flat hierarchy and a vegan diet,” according to BBC news. It measures 30 meters in length and capable of over 28 knots, as stated on the Louise Michel official website. The rescue-boat was bought by Banksy with proceeds from some of the artist’s work.

We do, in fact, need more people like Banksy. The boat has already rescued 89 refugees from a rubber boat and it is striving to help even more. This is an amazing humanitarian deed done in style.