A masked protester winds up to throw, every muscle tensed. But what he is throwing is not a stone, it is a bouquet of flowers. With Flower Thrower, Banksy created one of the most powerful images of peace in street art.
A picture on a wall in Beit Sahour
Banksy painted the work in 2003 on a wall in Beit Sahour, a town near Bethlehem in the West Bank. It is also known as “Love is in the Air”, which is also the name of the screen print Banksy released of the motif. The location is no coincidence: Banksy has worked in the region again and again, with images that comment on the conflict.
Expecting violence, getting peace
We know the young man's stance from news images of protests and street battles: a cloth over his face, a cap on his head, his arm pulled far back. Everything in us expects a stone or a petrol bomb. Banksy turns this expectation on its head and places a colourful bouquet of flowers in his hand. The rest of the image stays black and white; only the flowers are in colour, and that is exactly where the eye is drawn.
What the work says
Flower Thrower can be read as a call to turn anger into something peaceful. But it can also be understood as a question: what if those we see as a threat are actually holding something completely different in their hands? This ambiguity has made the motif a symbol of non-violent protest, far beyond the place where it was created.
Flower Thrower for your home
In our Flower Thrower collection you will find the motif on posters, mugs, magnets, bottle openers and more: for everyone who wants to have the work's message in front of them every day.
