As statements go, it's a big one. A towering mural in France of the Statue of Liberty covering her eyes is racking up millions of views online with its swipe at President Trump's immigration and deportation policies. Amsterdam-based street artist Judith de Leeuw described her giant work in the northern French town of Roubaix, which has a large immigrant community, as "a quiet reminder of what freedom should be." She said "freedom feels out of reach" for migrants and "those pushed to the margins, silenced, or unseen." "I painted her covering her eyes because the weight of the world has become too heavy to witness. What was once a shining symbol of liberty now carries the sorrow of lost meaning," de Leeuw wrote in a July 4 post on Facebook, when Americans were celebrating Independence Day.
Her depiction of the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the French people in the late 1800s, has inspired some sharp criticism. Rep. Tim Burchett, a Republican lawmaker from Tennessee, wrote in an angry post on X that the work "disgusts me." He said he had an uncle who fought and died in France, where US forces saw combat in both World War I and World War II. In an interview with the AP, de Leeuw was unapologetic. "I'm not offended to be hated by the Donald Trump movement. I am not sorry. This is the right thing to do," she said.
The mural in Roubaix is part of an urban street-culture festival backed by the town. Roubaix is one of the poorest towns in France. It has been economically devastated by the collapse of its once-flourishing textile industry, which used to attract migrant workers from elsewhere in Europe, North Africa, and beyond. The town is standing by the work, with its deputy mayor in charge of cultural affairs, Frederic Lefebvre, telling broadcaster France 3 that "it's a very strong and powerful political message."
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