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The Statue of Treachery

The Statue of Liberty says, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, if they can make their own way to the airport without upsetting the Taliban'.

John Spooner uses the great symbol of America’s welcome to those from foreign lands to make a sharp statement on the fall of Kabul and the allies’ promise of freedom to those looking to them for help. Published as the chaotic evacuation unfolds at Hamid Karzai International Airport, it quotes the famous inscription from the Statue of Liberty. But it adds a stinging reminder that the rhetoric of hope is not always matched by reality.

- Karen Middleton, guest curator