Tanks by an unknown artist

No American tanks

For centuries, graffiti has been used to convey political statements. Roman senators used to hire graffiti artists to disparage their competitors. Here an unknown graffiti artist wanted to make a statement against the Gulf War (1990-1991). He or she was protesting the fact that American tanks were shipped to the Persian Gulf out of the Port of Antwerp.

A clear statement

“At the time, you’d run into these templates in other places in the city, like in front of the town hall”, street art expert Arno Arnouts remembers. “But I’ve always known these two to be here although a lot of people don’t really notice them. Perhaps that’s why they were never removed? In the nineties, this was a very clear statement. Nowadays many people probably have no idea what this refers to. But it is still a very obvious protest against war.”

Who is the author?

The author of this work is unknown. “It may even be someone from outside the graffiti scene, who wanted to make a statement”, says Arno. “But you can see that the artist who made it knew how to use a spray can. Spraying a stencil may take less time but it doesn’t mean that it’s easy.”

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