By Jessica Frank-Keyes
A Russian artist says he will project a sculpture filled with human blood onto the facade of St Paul’s to protest Prince Harry’s comments about killing Afghan soldiers “like chess pieces”.
Conceptual artist Andrei Molodkin says he will fill an acrylic royal coat of arms with 1,250ml of human blood donated by Afghan refugees and project the image onto the historic cathedral.
It comes after outcry over the Duke of Sussex claiming in his controversial memoir Spare earlier this year that he killed 25 fighters while he was serving in Afghanistan.
Named Royal Blood, the haunting installation is set to appear on the iconic monument in the coming days, Molodkin, a former Russian soldier, says, alongside a video of Prince Harry.
‘Blood on their hands’
“Afghan people believe they are not chess pieces, they are humans. They have donated this blood to me to make the projections of this onto St Pauls,” Molodkin told City A.M.
Molodkin, who said his donors were Afghan refugees, added: “All governments have blood on their hands. I am asking for blood to stop war and violence.”
He said one donor, from the Kandahar region, had said: “War is a business and the poor are expendable… the British have put profits before pain and budgets before bloodshed.”
The artist, who is working with the art collective a/political, says his sculpture work is taking place ahead of the coronation of King Charles III and has asked for other human blood donors to come forward.
Molodkin previously made headlines with another artwork called ‘Putin Filled with the Blood of Ukrainian Soldiers’,in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Every violence in the world happens when someone doesn’t believe someone else is human,” he said. “It’s shocking for me as a Russian as I see Putin doing this as well.”
A spokesperson for St Paul’s said they had not been contacted by the artist.
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