As our country continues to ban books and restricting knowledge, I see a parallel to books being weaponized and the dangers of reading ensues.

These bandoliers were worn by performers who participated in Art in Odd Places 2023. The Banned Books Banditos, a gaggle consisting of 5-10 “Reading Outlaws”, strutted along 14th Street to the soundtrack of Ennio Morricone’s Westerns, wearing bandoliers made of embroidered leather and felt, each carrying a book that has been banned in the past, such as Slaughterhouse 5, The Color Purple, and The Catcher in the Rye, etc. The design takes inspiration from bandoliers that have been used to carry guns in the old west, thus turning the books into weapons of knowledge.

Price on request.

10% of sale proceeds will be donated to non-profit organizations who are fighting the good fight!

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Micki Watanabe Spiller

Micki Watanabe Spiller