“bin Ladens” is a colloquial term for the EU$500 note, one of the highest value banknotes in the world. The term emerged because although a quarter of all the $500 euros printed are circulating within Spain – no one ever sees them in ordinary transactions: their role is mostly confined to money laundering activities.

Washing bin Laden looks at the notion of financial crisis in Spain through the story of Enric Duran a modern day Robin Hood of the Banks who stole almost half a million euros and gave it away to social organisations. A EU$500 note is gifted to one of the beneficiaries of this donation, AureaSocial, to explore if activists can “wash” money of its oppressive role.