Slave Labour, Street art mural in Wood Green, London
Slave Labour is a wall painting in Wood Green, London, created with stencil technique on the side of a building and showing a critical scene. It measures 122 cm in height and depicts a barefoot child sitting at an industrial sewing machine while stitching together British flags.
The work appeared in May 2012 and remained visible on the original wall for about nine months. In February 2013 it was removed without prior public announcement and later turned up on the art market.
The wall painting shows a child wearing casual clothes with shorts, a t-shirt and a backwards baseball cap, kneeling barefoot in front of an industrial sewing machine while stitching together Union Jack flags. This portrayal points to the hidden working conditions behind everyday consumer goods and makes the invisible link between Western consumption and global production visible to passersby.
The painting was originally located on the side wall of a commercial building and could be easily seen from the street. Today the work is no longer visible in Wood Green as it was removed from the wall and has left its original location.
The removal of the work led to weeks of discussion about ownership of street art because the wall belonged to a private property owner who had the right to remove the image. The subsequent auction was postponed several times after local residents and art activists spoke out against the sale and demanded that the work be returned to the neighborhood.
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