Turkish cities poke fun at artist’s duct-taped banana

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish municipalities recently poked fun at an art piece that recently made headlines: a banana duct-taped to a wall at an art fair in Miami, Florida that was sold for $120,000 but was eaten by a visitor in a video that went viral on social media.

Four municipalities shared their own versions of renowned Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s “masterpiece” on Twitter taped to a wall half-mockingly.

On its official Twitter account, the city of Kayseri in central Turkey posted a photo of Cattelan-style artwork: a slice of pastirma (pastrami) taped to a wall.

Kayseri is famous for its pastirma, a kind of cured beef.

“Those who do not eat pastirma in Kayseri hang bananas on the wall and appraise them for $120,000. We are waiting for you to eat pastirma in the #TheCityWithRichCuisine,” the city tweeted.

The city of Trabzon also joined in, tweeting: ”This is what you call a work. It's even better if it's poached,” with a picture of hamsi (Black Sea anchovy) taped to a wall.

Anchovies are considered a main source of food for Turks living in the Black Sea region. An anchovy is even used as the symbol of Turkish football team Trabzonspor.

“Now it is a real work of art. We are waiting for the buyers,” tweeted the city of Ordu on Turkey’s northern Black Sea coast with an image of hazelnut artwork. Ordu grows a quarter of the world’s hazelnuts.

Sanliurfa province in southern Turkey also half mockingly shared a pepper taped to a wall on social media, describing it as a priceless work of art.

*Writing by Burak Dag