What is there
to see?

The street art artist Banksy is probably the most famous phantom in the world! Until now, his (or her?) true identity remains a mere guess. Banksy was likely born around 1974 in Bristol (UK). He rose to fame in the street art world in the mid-1990s and is now legendary.

Again and again he draws attention to himself with spectacular ideas and campaigns. Who remembers the work that half self-destructed after the 2018 auction? (The video can be seen in the museum)

His art speaks a clear language because his ideas are as simple as they are ingenious. He often places well-known figures from art, culture, politics, and society in a new context, which is what makes his pictures so amazing. The bluntness of his ideas makes you smile, although the mostly serious background actually forbids that. In any case, you don’t have to be an art expert to enjoy Banksy, just be a little up-to-date with world events.

All works here are full-size copies created by local artists. Of course, the fact that many of his graffities were created using the stencil technique simplifies the task. The reason for choosing this technique was plain and simple: work faster, reduce the risk of getting caught!

The museum is divided into three large country departments. On the ground floor we find works from the UK, with a clear focus on Bristol.

In this department, he mainly works with red, black, and white. There are also many children and animals depicted, with the latter having rats scurrying over the walls before any of them. For Banksy, these are like the graffiti artists: a bit on the fringes of society and running away as soon as you spot them.

As for the children, they are often the victims, such as the little boy doing heavy labor with a big hammer. But it’s also the children who become revolutionaries for a better world: a boy and a girl throw a sign that says, “No Ball Games” to each other. The girl with the heart balloon should not be missing either and can be seen in different variants. Despite all the criticism in Banksy’s work, there is always a silver lining: the world may be going to the dogs, but hope dies last.

On the upper floor, we find the section on France and Italy. A famous work, among other many other, is the dark-skinned girl spraying a swastika with pink ornaments, for example. This one was discovered in 2018 north of Paris near a former refugee center. In the same year, Banksy also spray-painted a door of the Bataclan to commemorate the victims of the 2015 terrorist attacks. The door was stolen, resurfaced in Italy in mid-2020 and returned to France on French National Day.

With almost every work, the exhibition organizers have endeavored to provide some context. Mostly in the form of material lying on the floor, which belongs to the subject of the picture. This actually helps to imagine the works in their original surroundings.

The area to the USA, Israel and Palestine is located in the spacious basement with a courtyard.

Well done here is the “Walled Off-Hotel”, a replica of the hotel that Banksy opened in Bethlehem in 2017. The wall next to it (the barrier to the West Bank), which he spray-painted with the slogan “Make hummus, not war”, among other things, is a successful reproduction. It leads out into the courtyard.

Banksy Museum
a bit of History

The Espacio Trafalgar was previously an art gallery that has been showing the exhibition “The World of Banksy” since 202o. The end date was kept being extended because the exhibition had a good response. Of course, we reported about it at the time.

Then the decision was made: Banksy should stay! And in December 2022, the Banksy Museum was founded in Barcelona.