Saying farewell to Banksy’s greetings art
NEATH Port Talbot Council has confirmed that the Banksy artwork – which stunned the town when it appeared on a garage in 2018 – is set to leave Wales for a new home across the border.
The famous artwork will leave the town in January to be displayed at a street art exhibition in Peterborough.
Questions have been raised about the future of the artwork since it first appeared before Christmas 2018 on the side of a Taibach garage.
After sparking widespread interest and Welsh Government-funded round-the-clock security, the artwork was eventually snapped up by Banksy collector John Brandler for six figures.
The piece was then moved to a new location in Ty’r Orsaf, a development of commercial units in the town’s Station Road, where people could view it through the glass.
Mr Brandler was told by the local authority that there were a number of prospective commercial tenants for the unit, and an agreement was reached that the piece could stay until January, 2022.
The council has now confirmed that this agreement will come to an end in January and the Banksy will soon leave the town and is set to appear in a street art exhibition in Peterborough, due to start next month. Scores of people flocked to see the Banksy after the worldfamous street artist confirmed he was behind the work that appeared on a town garage overnight three years ago.
On one wall the work depicts a boy delighted by falling snowflakes – but just around the corner there’s a metal commercial bin with a fire inside. What initially appears to be snow is actually falling ash from the material burning in the bin.
A video of the work on Banksy’s Instagram page ends by showing Port Talbot’s Tata steelworks in the distance above the artwork.
Following his latest communication regarding the piece, Mr Brandler added: “There’s another town in England who want a street art museum and they will build it around the Banksy, which will attract 400,000-500,000 visitors a year and they are going to build a hotel for all the visitors.
“I gave my word it would stay in Port Talbot for two years and it has been there for three years.”
He said he never had any issues with Pobl, which owned the Ty’r Orsaf site, during the time the work had been there.
Mr Brandler added: “Pobl have been fine for three years. I am thrilled they will use the artwork as a backdrop for the Christmas celebrations, but by January 14 it has to be removed.”
He said he had been offered the chance to sell the artwork but had yet to take up the opportunity.
The Welsh Government has previously indicated that the future of the Banksy is a matter for Mr Brandler, the building owner and Neath Port Talbot Council, as its officials’ interests ceased when the work was safely extracted.
Neath Port Talbot Council leader Cllr Ted Latham said: “When the council made enquiries as to plans for the piece, given the temporary arrangement to house it at Pobl’s Ty’r Orsaf building is due to end in January next year, the council was informed it would now be moved to Peterborough where an exhibition of street art is due to be held, starting from next month.
“Discussions were held on future arrangements and the potential for the work to remain in Port Talbot, but the council was informed it would have to meet the costs of its removal and installation into the new venue, to continue to cover the insurance and to pay a fee in the region of £100,000 per year for the loan of the work. It has been estimated the cost of removal and relocation to another venue (even without insurance to cover the operation to move it) of Season’s Greetings would be around £50,000.”