'Homeland is racist': Artists 'hack' latest episode with Arabic slogans
Homeland, now in its fifth series, follows former CIA agent Carrie Mathison tackling international terrorism
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Artists have "hacked" the latest Homeland episode, covering the walls with Arabic slogans mocking the award-winning show for its simplistic depiction of Arabs and the Islamic faith.
The Arabian Street Artists, including painters Heba Amin, Don Karl and Caram Kapp, were invited to cover the Berlin set in authentic graffiti for the most recent episode, set in a refugee camp on the Lebanese/Syrian border.
Instead, the artists used the platform to write slogans such as "Homeland is racist," "This show does not represent the views of the artists," and "Homeland is a joke and it didn’t make us laugh."
The artists, who worked on the set design for the episode 'The Tradition of Hospitality' over three days in June, said they were provoked by the show’s "inaccurate, undifferentiated and highly biased depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis, and Afghans."
Although the claims could not be independently verified by The Independent, Homeland has been criticised for its simplistic portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the past.
Ms Amin, an Egyptian visual artist currently studying at the American university in Cairo, said the graffiti was intended to "make our point by subverting the message using the show itself."
Writing on her personal website, she claims the show’s set producers were "too frantic to pay any attention" to the artwork. "In their eyes, Arabic script is merely a supplementary visual that completes the horror-fantasy of the Middle East."
Mr Karl, a German publisher and artist who was also involved in the hack, also claimed the set designers "just don’t care."
"In another episode they had Hebrew price tags on clothes in a market in an Arab country. They had shot the scene in a fake souq in Tel Aviv," he told Egyptian Streets.
Showtime, the US network behind Homeland, did not respond to requests for comment.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments