The Bristol Tesco Riots – Not So “Mild Mild West”
Banksy Mild Mild West
The UK city of Bristol is home to Modern Canvas Art, worldwide sellers of fantastic pop art canvas prints and pop art paintings, and world famous graffiti artist Banksy. Last week we saw an evening a unrest and rioting in our great city. The trouble flared while police were guarding a damaged “Tesco Express” store as local residents complained that heavy-handed police tactics had provoked a night of violent rioting.
The cause of the trouble has been somewhat confused by two separate issues; firstly, the police raided a squat occupied by opponents of the recently opened supermarket outlet and this led to eight police officers and several protesters becoming injured. However, ever since plans for the new Tesco Express store were mooted, there has been very strong opposition by the local community, a body of which describe themselves as “The People’s Republic of Stoke’s Croft”.
The store is seen as a threat to the businesses of local communities, which are made up from very wide and diverse ethnic backgrounds. Tesco is seen as a capitalist enemy, taking over communities and milking the resources from within them by driving down prices and putting convenience stores out of business. Ever since plans for the new Tesco were announced the reaction to it in Stoke’s Croft has been bitter and at times, quite hostile. The hostility prompted round the clock security to be installed at the store while it was being fitted out. Reports came in that petrol bombs were being assembled in the squat – being known to locals as “Telepathic Heights” – for, allegedly, use for an attack on the Tesco store. The police confirmed some time later that petrol bombs had been recovered from the house and these were being examined.
The Stoke’s Croft area is Banksy territory in Bristol. Indeed, some 200 yards down the road from the troubled Tesco Express store can be seen Banksy’s iconic “Mild Mild West” piece on the side of a building which dominates the view down the street. This is so iconic that it has been ordered to be preserved by Bristol City Council. In fact – iconic and ironic – in the early days of Banksy the Council could not remove his art from public spaces quick enough. Now of course, he has put Bristol on the map and there can be little doubt that many more visitors are drawn to the city to see his works. As a result, the Council are bending over backwards to preserve them.
By coincidence, Banksy has produced his own piece of art making fun of this country’s obsession to shopping and Tesco – see here At the current time a large part of the Stoke’s Croft area is cut off. One feels that this may not be the end of the trouble in store for Tesco. However, the feeling is that they will not be bullied out of the area. The largest supermarket in the UK does not become the largest supermarket in the UK by bowing to local pressure. It could be a long fight. Take a look at Modern Canvas Art for a selection of Banksy prints
