Bank Job Art

Picture this, a golden van is blown up in the financial heart of a capital city, seen as a symbol of a 1.2 million pounds of debt being erased. This is the result of a project put together by artists who decided to have their own bank, where they could print their own money. They would then sell it, and with the money raised could be able to buy the debt off of people who needed help. Read Bank Job Art to find out more

This is not the new plot of another money heist Netflix-show but what really happened in London last year in 2019, and a journey the book Bank Job takes us through.

Initiated by Hilary Powell and Daniel Edelstyn, who are husband and wife, Bank Job is not only a book but a project about art, community and helping others. Erasing the debt of more than 400 people is not an easy task, but definitely one of the most wonderful modern-day’happenings’.

And it’s through the stories of those modern-robin hood-like people and how their lives were involuntarily shaped by decades of political decisions, that we learn and understand what led them to this almost unbelievable act.

As can be guessed, Economy and debt are a big part of this project. Raising questions about the economic system and it’s injustice, how we live in a creditocracy, or how poverty is a political choice, are the subjects approached by the couple whist building this project.

And as Hilary and Daniel learned, Economy is taught to be a complicated language that it is not for everyone. By doing so, many people believed it, and the Economy became this elitist and mysterious language. When in fact, it is not, and just a tactic for letting a system that is thriving for the ones fluent in it and therefore can understand it and destroying those who can’t

Living through climate, health, and an economic crisis can sometimes make it hard to be optimistic about the future. But with projects like Bank Job, we are a reminded that good things can still happen.

Published by Chelsea Green, Bank Job will be released on the 17th of September.

If you enjoy Bank Job Art why not read more articles about literature with How About This? or The Tinkerbell Conclusion here.