Brussels is home to a museum dedicated to the enigmatic street artist Banksy, which makes a concerted effort to capture the meaning behind the artist's works. The Brussels Times visited the museum to find out more.
You'd be hard-pressed to have completely missed the works of the elusive artist. Banksy has become a world-renowned street art legend, all while retaining full anonymity with his pseudonym. Many argue that this makes his messages even more powerful.
His stencilled murals, which have brought him universal fame, most often include an explicit political or social commentary on current issues. Banksy's central themes are pacifism, anti-capitalism, environmentalism, anti-establishment stance and criticism of societal hedonism and consumerism.
Banksy New York works recreations. Credit: Kosmos Khoroshavin / The Brussels Times
Banksy has painted extensively across the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe, and many other relevant locations worldwide, notably Palestine and Ukraine.
He uses bold images painted on walls using stencilling techniques. The most common subjects depicted are people among everyday attributes of modern life, children and various animals, particularly apes and rats. Banksy's murals are very human-centric and satirical, often with a comedic flair.
Banksy is speculated to have started his art career around the 1990s in Bristol. His first iconic mural, covering an advertisement, is the Mild Mild West. Photo of a reproduction from the Brussels Banksy museum. Credit: Kosmos Khoroshavin / The Brussels Times
No one can say for sure who Banksy is – but several theories have been floated over the years. He once famously said, "I don't know why people are so keen to put the details of their private life in public; they forget that invisibility is a superpower."
The artist has consistently communicated that he is not comfortable with his identity being revealed and said it may even put him in danger.
But this has never stopped efforts to unmask him: he has been chased by New York's and London's authorities, sued by companies and investigated by journalists, such as those from Reuters earlier this month.
In 2003, the man in the frame gave an interview to the BBC during the artist's official 'Turf War' exhibition, claiming to be Banksy. It is still unclear if the video actually depicts the mural artist. Credit: YouTube screen grab / Robert Murphy
Banksy unauthorised
Banksy has never painted a mural in Brussels or Belgium, but his name has still made headlines on several occasions.
Back in 2018, for example, Belgian law enforcement arrested original Banksy artworks, including the famous 'Girl with Balloon', totalling £12 million. The exhibition called 'Banksy unauthorised' indeed appeared to be unauthorised.
Banksy's French murals, including a tribute to victims of the 2015 terror attacks. Reproductions at the Brussels Banksy museum. Credit: Kosmos Khoroshavin / The Brussels Times
But comically enough, it wasn't Banksy who started the fuss. On his Instagram, he posted, "Not sure I'm the best person to complain about people putting up pictures without permission." Instead, his ex-manager, who owned the works, just never knew they were displayed in the city.
Still, the artist does not generally approve of commercial exhibitions that were not organised through his only official channel – the so-called Pest Control. He believes his art should be accessible for free and not used for profit, the opposite of what the fine arts scene has done to his works.
Despite having never sanctioned the Brussels Banksy museum, he has never mentioned it. He has, however, condemned an Antwerp-based exhibition and the mentioned 'Banksy unauthorised'.
Reproduction of Banksy's work criticising the fine arts scene. Credit: Kosmos Khoroshavin / The Brussels Times
In September 2021, he published the following communication on his website: "Members of the public should be aware that there has been a recent spate of Banksy exhibitions, none of which are consensual. They've been organised entirely without the artist's knowledge or involvement. Please treat them accordingly."
Serving Banksy's message
Located on Rue de Laeken, the Brussels museum does not host any original works of the artist. Instead, it opts for recreations made by local street artists.
To better understand the museum's intentions, The Brussels Times spoke to director Duka Sokoli, who organises the exhibition and is a big Banksy fan.
"I think he probably likes the idea of keeping his message, which is really about peace, love and bringing consciousness to matters that are relevant today. The main pieces here are the ones from the walls, which people cannot see, unfortunately, because they've been erased," Sokoli says.
Aside from the main exhibition, the museum organises workshops targeted at children, teaching them to use stencilling techniques. Credit: Kosmos Khoroshavin / The Brussels Times
Tickets are priced at €14, and souvenir sales serve only to upkeep and run the museum in the massive ex-fabric production building.
Visitors told The Brussels Times that they thought the price was reasonable and the museum itself made a genuine effort to represent Banksy adequately. "As long as it is not in a money-making, extortionate way, I think he would be okay with it," said Janet, from the UK.
"It's a mixed notion. On one side, this is a commercial place to show his work, gathering tourists and other people. On the other hand, I think it's a good thing to have a place where we can get knowledge of all of his works," a Bulgarian visitor, Mimi, said.
Sokoli says Banksy brings out humanity in all of his subjects. "He is a master at putting the needle where it needs to be put. At the end of the day, his biggest message is love, and that's something we can all agree on. He can talk to people of all ages. From 9 to 96, you will find something appealing in his art."
Duka Sokoli, the director of the Brussels Banksy Museum. Credit: Kosmos Khoroshavin / The Brussels Times
Both the museum's director and visitors say they do not understand the need to try to uncover Banksy's identity, saying his ideas and art won't change because of it.
"I think it's an interesting case because he's some kind of Batman in a sense. To most people, what really matters is the message of the artist. At the end of the day, this is probably a good way to write articles and sell papers, but it doesn't take away from his work and his messages, which are the essential part," said Sokoli.
Museum visitor Mimi shared similar thoughts. "Is the core problem who Banksy is? Maybe the real issue is what he is saying with his paintings, and the stress of our attention should be on his paintings and not where he was born."
