The Weekly Croissant: Banksy

Being an Art Hoe in Wellington, NZ

Hello Croissants,

Hope everyone is doing OK during this brutal week. I will attempt to give your brains a break from the actual news with some Art Hoe news.

I had a day off before leaving Wellington to (finally!) head home, and I decided to check out the Banksy exhibit which was touring through. A museum exhibit of Banksy in itself is ironic. All of the art was sourced from private owners of his work, and it was mostly prints or photographs of exhibitions and public murals. The art itself was therefore a little underwhelming because it wasn’t big exhibits of his original murals and street art, which is for some reason what I had pictured… as if they were going to cut out many blocks of concrete from the streets and ship them around the world for this exhibit.

Anyway, the great thing about the exhibit was everything I learned. I’ve always been a casual fan of Banksy but I had no idea the extent of his contemporary political work, I just liked his images.

I did not know that in 2017, Banksy created “The Walled Off Hotel” overlooking the Bethlehem wall, decorated with the art of Palestinian artists alongside the work of Banksy himself.

Here’s a little about the place from wikipedia:

The Walled Off Hotel is a boutique hotel in Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine. It was designed by anonymous London-based artist Banksy alongside other creatives. Established in March 2017, and initially set out to only be a temporary exhibition and a word play on the Waldorf hotel chain name,[1] the hotel has since attracted nearly 140,000 visitors,[2] thanks in part to its location opposite the portion of the Israeli West Bank Barrier separating Bethlehem from the holy site of Rachel's Tomb.[3]

Established on 3 March 2017, the hotel is generally considered to be a follow-up to Banksy's 2015 Dismaland project, held for five weeks in Weston-Super-Mare in the South-West of England, making a commentary on life in coastal towns in 21st-century Britain.[citation needed] The reaction to the hotel as a work of art and social intervention has been mixed, especially given its location and subject matter. Critics have argued that such a building profits off tragedy, and is a case of war tourism.[4] On the topic of Banksy's Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, Palestinian artist and activist Rana Bishara criticized the initiative for commodifying the Israeli separation wall while the real wall remains a source of oppression for Palestinians. Bishara also expressed concern over the potential dehumanization of socially disadvantaged areas like the West Bank due to "dark tourism" or "tourism of suffering."[5] Nonetheless, evidence has suggested that the hotel has brought more tourism to areas of the West Bank, in turn raising awareness of the realities of the Palestinians affected by the conflict.[6]

CAMERA UK denounced a painting in the hotel of Jesus Christ with a sniper’s red dot sight on his head as in support of the antisemitic belief of Jewish deicide.[7]

Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the Walled Off Hotel announced its closure "for the time being", "due to major developments in the region" [8]

I also did not know that amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Banksy murals popped up around war-torn cities.

This one was turned into a postage stamp that apparently says FCK PTN

These ones are so stunningly beautiful:

For context:

And this one!

I can only imagine how it would feel seeing a Banksy pop up amidst your war torn city, knowing that he had made the trip to send a few messages of support and love.

I’m not sure who was making money from the Banksy exhibit, or who approved it, but I left feeling inspired and I’m glad I went… even though it felt a bit like this:

Sending lots of love to all of you this week, hope you find a moment for a nice croissant and a break from the world!

-Rachel