New Banksy Art

bristol | local government | news report Thursday June 22, 2006 17:38 by Gemma gemma_honour at yahoo dot co dot uk

Bristol City Council let local people decide graffiti issue

Bristol City Council have asked Bristol residents to choose the fate of the latest installment of Banksy artwork.

New Banksy Art Work

Banksy has struck Bristol once again, with his so called Art Terrorism. The newest addition of Banksy Graffiti appears on the side of a sexual health clinic in Bristol. Stencilled on the wall is a window, revealing a lady, with little else on than a worried look, whilst her husband looks out searching for the naked male intruder that hangs from the window ledge. Dr Annie Evans, who works at the Brook Young Peoples Advisory Clinic, is reported to have thanked Banksy for what she describes as an “utterly appropriate stencil”.

What marks the difference is the break in protocol in how the council have reacted to the incident. The council have put it forward to the people of Bristol to debate over whether the Graffiti will be kept, and the decision will be made over it's removal in a few weeks time. Cllr Gary Hopkins described the Banksy piece as “Clever”, but has asked for the people of Bristol to decide by making their comments known on the forum provided on the Bristol City Council website.

He has recently been publicly seen to be supporting “street art”, supporting local peoples involvement in organised mural projects, such as the St Pauls round-a-bout. The councillor believes that such projects can deter what he describes as the more unpleasant displays of “street art”, such as tagging. He argues that these types of graffiti can often give an intimidating feel to an area.

It is now up to the people of Bristol to describe whether this particular “street art” is appropriate. The public reaction to the Banksy issue has seemingly provoked the council into taking a different approach to removal of graffiti. He stated “If people own a building they should have the choice of whether they want that on the building.”

Cllr Hopkins stressed that because In this case the owner of the building is the City Council, and the occupiers of the building are happy with the new Banksy piece, that the issue should be opened up for discussion amongst residents.

The council provided online forum asks residents to comment on how they see the difference between graffiti and art. This is unlikely to see sweeping reforms in how the council deals with graffiti however, as Cllr Hopkins made clear that, “artwork” on any other council building would be dealt with as a prosecutable offence, and removed as soon as possible. The council maintains a staunch anti-graffiti message, and takes tough action against those who perpetrate acts of vandalism.

If you would like to join the debate head to http://www.askbristol.com

For further information on this story stream into www.radiodialect.net at 7pm 22/06/06 or listen to the archived show later in the week.