Hive Health

Bizarreness reared it six eared head last week, when hordes of photographers and art fans descended on Savemain pharmacy in Essex Road, Islington, after Banksy painted a large mural on the wall depicting three children pledging allegiance to a flagpole with a Tesco plastic bag flying from it. As a fan of the artist, a person fascinated with HCPs, and this being my local pharmacy I felt I had to go and have a look. Speaking to Anand the pharmacist at the family-run business, he said: “We are a little bit surprised at all the fuss – it’s certainly not something we see every day. We had no idea, we just came into work on Monday morning and there it was. Hopefully no-one will do anything to damage it. It would be nice if it helped business.” His uncle Raj hilariously added that “they were considering whether to sell it”

The Islington Gazette has subsequently carried a comment from a spokesman for Tesco, who have a store in Essex Road, who said: “If this proves to be genuine and all indications are it is, then we’re flattered to have been thought of by one of the UK’s foremost contemporary artists. However, we’re not art critics and will leave it to individuals to decide on its poignancy.

Have they missed that this is clearly Banksy’s comment on the demise of the independent pharmacy?