BARCELONA – The first museum dedicated to the street artist Banksy has opened. And it is in Spain. At the beginning of December, in Barcelona, the doors re-opened to what used to be Espacio Trafalgar. But it has now been transformed into the Banksy Museum.
Following the success of the permanent exhibition ‘The World of Banksy’ previously dedicated to the artist, which attracted nearly 100,000 visitors in three years, Espacio Trafalgar has decided to rebuild and devote itself entirely to the art of the world-famous street artist. That also included a new name.
For three consecutive years, the centre has dedicated itself to disseminating the work of the graffiti artist whose identity is still unknown. Banksy is his pseudonym. Within a short time, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to see replicas of some of Banksy’s most popular works. A striking detail is that the maker himself did not authorize either the previous exhibition or the current museum.
Full-size reproductions
With the reopening, the gallery has inaugurated 30 new works. These, like the rest of the collection, are full-size reproductions. They are made by countless artists in the image and likeness of the originals. These have been applied by Banksy to the exterior walls of various buildings around the world.
Among the new additions are works that refer to the recent pandemic crisis, migration or the war between Israel and Palestine. The museum wants to update the collection as the graffiti artist carries out his works. Banksy’s last works marked the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Strong political commitment from Banksy
“The idea is that this is the place of reference for the artist, not only in the Catalan capital, but all over the world. An educational space that also highlights his strong political commitment,” explains the exhibition’s curator, Hazis Vardar, to La Vanguardia.
Vardar expects that in addition to these 30 new works, there will soon be other new works devoted to the war in Ukraine. “While this is a permanent exhibition, the goal is to feature the new works Banksy creates in real time or as quickly as possible.”
Information for visitors
The opening hours of the Banksy Museum are Monday to Sunday from 10.00 am to 8.00 pm and admission costs €12. Although the aforementioned exhibition ‘The World of Banksy’ has already visited European cities such as Paris (France), Milan (Italy), Prague (Czech Republic) or Brussels (Belgium), it is the first time that a museum has been devoted exclusively to the work from Banksy.
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