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That's What They Said

Year:2011
City:Vienna, Austria
Measures:56 pieces, 10 x 15 cm each
Media:Embroidery on Paper
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In the fifty-six part series, Tanja Boukal focuses on the England riots in 2011. Similar to other protest movements in recent years, this one, too, began with a peaceful demonstration of residents in London’s Tottenham neighborhood, one of Great Britain’s most impoverished areas. The situation subsequently escalated, setting off riots in other parts of the city and other cities in Great Britain. As a reaction to the discussion of whether these riots were politically motivated, Tanja Boukal took election slogans that have been used by British parties since the 1950s and wrote them over photos of the unrest that were published on Flickr. By dealing with the slogans independent of their political leaning, the artist symbolically highlights politics’ ignorance with regard to a key segment of the population. The literal red thread, which is present more than just symbolically with the meaningless slogans, was once used by the British Marines as marker yarn worked into their hemp rope.