Art the Arms Fair to return
Art the Arms Fair to return in 2019
The highly successful Arts the Arms Fair is to be repeated in September 2019 to coincide with the next Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair, the Friend can exclusively reveal.
Sam Walton, a member of South London Area Meeting and one of the organisers of the arts fair, told the Friend: ‘The arms trade loves to stay in the shadow and we are shining a very big light on it. The biggest issue about the arms fair is that most people are not aware of it even though it is the world’s largest arms fair.
‘Last year we managed to reach loads of people and raise awareness, with around one million media impressions across conventional and social media. Now we’ve been really successful, we’re in a really strong position. At the moment, we’re looking for a new gallery and to secure the funding.’
For the previous week-long Art the Arms Fair, which was part of a two-week protest against the Excel Centre arms fair in East London, the artist Banksy donated an original piece of artwork that raised £205,000. This was split between Reprieve, the human rights group, and Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). It was a ‘game-changing sum,’ according to Sam Walton.
The picture, Civilian Drone Strike, depicted a trio of Predator drones bombing a children’s picture of a house.
Speaking at the time of the event, which saw more than 100 people arrested for attempting to block arms fair exhibitors, Andrew Smith of Campaign Against Arms Trade, said the money from the sale would help the group to mobilise more protests against arms companies and against the next DSEI event.
‘The arms fair is a moral abomination,’ he said.
The next DSEI arms fair will be held on 10-13 September 2019. Critics say it brings together delegations from some of the worst human-rights-abusing countries in the world.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.