LAST April 22, Bonifacio Global City (BGC) posted a photo on Facebook of popular artist Banksy’s artwork, with the caption, “Spraying soon.” 

This was a teaser for the upcoming “Banksy Universe” exhibit, to be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila.

The museum also posted the same photo and caption on their Facebook page, with the added line, “Art is not a crime.”

While some showed excitement at the exhibit, one netizen asked if this meant that people could paint on BGC’s walls without repercussions. They explained that the Banksy Universe would only be at an art exhibition at the Met Museum, while art murals and executions in and around BGC were curated and permitted.

Many then started to call out the page for being performative and ironic, since Banksy’s works were known for his subversive works that often criticize institutions like the government, or elitist, anti-people ideologies. 

On X, Alfonso Manalastas, a Filipino spoken word artist and poet, wrote: “So absurd that while Filipino graffiti artists experience material precarity, forced to contend with limited public spaces to exhaust their art and activism, even often met with legal consequences, the likes of Banksy are endorsed by elite spaces like the Metropolitan Museum.” 

He added that the radical posturing behind asserted by the museum and its proponents felt hollow, vacuous, and dishonest, especially given the number of artist groups in the country being harassed, targeted, and red-tagged on a daily basis. 

In BGC’s post, one person speculated that this was not Banksy putting on an art show, but rather a rich, private art collector showing off their collection of Banksy’s pieces. Another added that to show such in a museum defeated the artist’s purpose, as his art was often seen painted onto buildings so they could be seen by anyone, hence why he is known to be a guerilla street artist.

Banksy’s team has also denied having any affiliation with this project. They also stated in the past that Banksy was not affiliated or involved with any exhibitions of his work in any countries.

Panday Sining Makati, an activist group that raises awareness on many social issues in the Philippines, also protested BGC’s decision. 

They made this known by posting a photo of graffiti they did on one of the walls of BGC, which read: “Art is not a crime! Banksy is anti-capitalist.” 

They also made another post following this which stated, “Maraming Banksy sa Pilipinas, ‘yong iba ay nakakulong.”

Under this were the spray painted faces of Aldeem Yañez, Alvin Fortaliza, Amanda Echanis, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, and JP Versoza, artists who were red-tagged and were then arrested, with some of these arrests being made illegally.  

Following the backlash, BGC took down the announcement, and no updates on whether or not the exhibit will continue have been released.

About Banksy

While people have been seeing his works since 1990, first being spotted in Bristol, England, and though he’s considered to be one of the most famous artists of this century, Banksy’s identity is still unknown.

There have been many speculations on who he is, but no one has been able to crack the case. 

Perhaps the most famous of his works are his series of murals entitled “Girl with Balloon,” which would show a young girl next to a red, heart-shaped balloon. 

He has made many variants of this design; one was released during the Syrian refugee crisis, another during the 2017 UK election, wherein Theresa May called for a snap election in hopes of crushing the Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn at the time.

The series became even more popular when, in 2018, the first artwork made for the series was sold at an auction for over a million pounds. As soon as the gavel slammed down, however, a siren started to blare, the artwork to shred itself, and would later be titled, “Love is in the Bin.” 

These examples are only a few of Banksy’s works. Many of his pieces advocate for freedom, and against war, violence, capitalism, and the like.