Banksy opens hotel on Bethlehem barrier wall
Pictures posted on social media just a few minutes ago...
See The Independent's article:
Banksy opens Bethlehem hotel decorated like English gentlemen’s club
Apparently it's 'a real business venture, not an art stunt'
From Dismaland to The Son of a Migrant from Syria, Banksy has created some of the most thought-provoking artworks in recent history.
In another bold statement, the famed graffiti artist has opened a hotel just metres away from the controversial barrier wall that separates the Israeli and Palestinian territory in the West Bank.
Titled The Walled Off Hotel, the nine-bedroom building based in Bethlehem is staffed by local people - none of whom knew Banksy was the one setting up the hotel - and aims to bring tourists to the destination.
While the anonymous artist’s team are insisting the hotel is a ‘real business venture, not an art stunt’ according to The Guardian, there are dozens of Banksy works within, as well as a themed bar and interactive exhibits.
The signing of the Balfour Declaration - which helped establish Israel 100 year ago - is depicted in one, while the hotel is “decorated to resemble an English gentlemen’s club from colonial times” to represent Britain’s role in the region.
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Read more on The Guardian, reporting from Palestine:
British artist launches Walled Off Hotel in hope of bringing Israeli tourists – and dialogue – to West Bank city
There is unlikely to be much room for last-minute travellers at Bethlehem’s latest inn. The Walled Off Hotel might sound utilitarian, even bleak: 10 rooms nestled against the controversial barrier wall separating Israel from the Palestinian territories.
But it offers travellers something much more elusive than the latest toiletries or a fancy spa. The lodging in the historic city is hotel, protest and art in one. It is the latest work of the British street artist Banksy.
The hotel, which was opened to the media on Friday, aims to bring jobs and tourists to a town whose pilgrim and sightseeing-based economy has been ravaged by ever tighter Israeli controls on travel between Israeli and Palestinian territories.
The artist, who fiercely guards his anonymity, also wants to spark dialogue, with his biggest target market not his legions of international fans, but young Israelis who might normally spend their weekends clubbing in Tel Aviv.
His support team insists the hotel is a real business venture, not an art stunt. Its nine rooms and one suite will be open for bookings on its website later this month.
There have been few reasons for Israelis to visit Bethlehem in recent years, because they are banned by law from visiting the town and all its main tourist sites.
But the hotel is located in an area just outside the town and still under Israeli control, and therefore legal for them to visit.
To encourage dialogue it will host exhibitions by Palestinians, giving artists who have few opportunities to travel a chance to reach international audiences. It will have a “colonial” theme, with chefs serving traditional afternoon tea to those who want a glimpse of the establishment.
But the hotel is located in an area just outside the town and still under Israeli control, and therefore legal for them to visit.
To encourage dialogue it will host exhibitions by Palestinians, giving artists who have few opportunities to travel a chance to reach international audiences. It will have a “colonial” theme, with chefs serving traditional afternoon tea to those who want a glimpse of the establishment.
Banksy first visited Bethlehem more than a decade ago. In 2005 and 2007, he created some of his best-known pieces on the West Bank barrier wall separating Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Among them are works depicting a girl frisking a soldier, and a dove in a flak jacket. Some locals took offence at the time, and an image of a soldier checking a donkey’s identity papers was painted over.
But others have survived, to join a must-see list for many tourists heading to the church of the nativity.
After the 2014 Gaza war, Banksy was smuggled into the territory to create a series of art works and an ironic tourist video. It urges viewers to “make this the year you discover a new destination”, before taking them on a virtual tour.
Banksy generally avoids commenting on his work, saying he prefers to let the images speak for themselves, but the video ends with the camera lingering on an overtly political message, also spray-painted on to a wall: “If we wash our hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless we side with the powerful – we don’t remain neutral.”
For all the fierce critique of Israeli policies, Banksy has focused on bringing Israelis and Palestinians together. In the dystopian “bemusement” park Dismaland that he created in 2015, he displayed works by three Palestinian and three Israeli artists side by side.
That angered Shadi Alzaqzouq, one of the Palestinian artists, so much that he covered his work with a sheet on which he had written “RIP Gaza” before lying down for a “die-in” in front of the message. The sheet stayed up for the duration of the exhibition, with a notice explaining the protest.
-See more pictures on the Guardian's website:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/03/banksy-opens-bethlehem-barrier-wall-hotel
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