Central Park stall
Banksy sets up a stall in Central Park, but does not tell anyone the paintings are originals. No paintings are sold until after 3pm, and the days total takings are $420. One of the customers is a man from Chicago, who is decorating his new house:
I just need something for the walls.
Palestinian door sold for $175
Rabea Darduna, a father of six from northern Gaza, is upset when he finds out that the Greek goddess Niobe painting he sold to Khaled for 700 shekels ($175) is worth much more. He says he was approached by a group of men:
They said they wanted to put it in a museum in Gaza where everyone could see it. One man told me: ‘We’re from the group that did it.’ They made me sign a paper. It said I agreed on 700 shekels. They pressured me and I accepted because I need the money…I had no idea what the value of the painting was or who this Banksy is…Really we feel depressed and very upset. This door is rightfully ours. They cheated us. It’s a matter of fraud. And we’re asking for the door to be returned.
Khaled says he has followed Banksy’s work for years, will not give it back to Darduna, and has no plans to sell it at present:
I bought the door to preserve the painting and protect it from being removed, spoiled or destroyed.
Gaza door siezed
The painted door that was sold for $175 has been seized by Gaza police. Khaled:
The policemen took the door away and they told me it would be held in accordance with a court order because there was a lawsuit against me. I am the true owner of the door now, and I will seek to establish this in court.
Darduna’s lawyer, said he was seeking to “return the door to its true owner”.
Dismaland opens
Dismaland, a theme park styled by Banksy, opens in Weston-super-Mare’s Tropicana, a derelict seafront lido. The site houses various sculptures and installations by Banksy, Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer and Jimmy Cauty. Banksy describes the show as a “family theme park unsuitable for children”.
I loved the Tropicana as a kid, so getting to throw these doors open again is a real honor…I guess you’d say it’s a theme park whose big theme is ‘theme parks should have bigger themes’