Banksy is an anonymous street artist known to make anti-establishment graffiti art in cities like London and Los Angeles.
This week, a museum in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City teasing an event called “Banksy Universe” sent social media abuzz with both excitement and critique.
READ: Banksy Universe? Social media abuzz by teasers with secretive artist’s name
In a now-deleted Facebook post, Bonifacio Global City page promoted Metropolitan Museum of Manila’s exhibit with the caption “Spraying soon.”
Photographer Sonny Thakur then asked whether this meant that walls around BGC can be painted without repercussions, to which the page replied that art murals in the area “remain curated and permitted”.
This response went viral on social media, citing how ironic it is for the museum to hold a Banksy display purely for its aesthetic value.
“This is what happens when elite spaces co-opt guerrilla art because it’s ‘fashionable’ according to western imagination, but will fail to uphold its spirit when its proponents, the everyday proletariat, do not possess the cultural capital they hope to invoke,” wrote poet Alfonso Manalastas in his post.
The said event has attracted a lot more angles of criticisms, like the museum’s use of “Art is not a crime” sentiment in their promotional copy.
For many activists, “art is not a crime” is not just rhetoric but a call-to-action, as Filipino artists and activists do get detained historically speaking.
Meanwhile, others commented on the uneasy disposition the art show takes place in—noting the disconnect between staging Banksy’s work at the very center of establishments that his art itself aims to rattle.
This was depicted on the illustration by artist Tarantadong Kalbo.
‘Not authorized’
Banksy’s team Pest Control states in their website that the artist is not associated with any exhibitions.
His team has also since clarified that “Banksy Universe” in specific is not authorized and endorsed by Banksy.