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Banksy brought the visual language of Palestine and The Walled Off Hotel into the heart of the international travel industry in November 2018, creating a replica section of the separation barrier for the Palestine stand at World Travel Market London.
“Opening my first ever stall at a trade fair next week. I’ve painted a replica separation barrier to promote The Walled Off hotel, ironically the neighbours have complained it’s too tall.” Banksy
Installed inside ExCeL, the work placed one of the most politically charged structures associated with Banksy’s art within an environment devoted to tourism, destinations and international movement.
Banksy, The Walled Off Hotel, Palestine Stand, World Trade Market, London Excel 2018. Image copyright GraffitiStreet
Created to promote The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, Banksy’s installation recreated part of the West Bank separation barrier and featured two cherubs attempting to prise the wall apart with crowbars.
The image had already appeared in Bethlehem during Christmas 2017, when Banksy painted the cherubs directly onto the barrier. Their appearance in London carried that imagery into an entirely different setting, bringing the political landscape surrounding Bethlehem into one of the world’s major travel industry events. Explore Banksy’s Cherubs and Peace on Earth works in Bethlehem.
Banksy, Stencilled Cherubs, The Walled Off Hotel, Bethlehem, West Bank 2017. Image copyright @alaa_taxi_driver_bethlehem for GraffitiStreet
For GraffitiStreet, seeing the installation in person made its impact particularly clear. The Palestine stand was modest in scale compared with many of the destinations surrounding it, yet it quickly became one of the most animated areas of the fair. Visitors gathered around the replica wall, photographed the work and stopped to engage with a stand that brought questions of tourism, borders and freedom of movement into the centre of the event.
Banksy, Palestine stand and replica separation barrier, World Travel Market London, 2018. Image copyright GraffitiStreet.
The Walled Off Hotel Comes to London
Banksy had opened The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem the previous year, only metres from the separation barrier. By bringing the hotel to World Travel Market, even symbolically, he extended the project beyond its physical location and placed Palestine directly within the language of international tourism.
The setting gave the installation particular force. World Travel Market is built around movement, destinations and the possibility of travelling freely between places. Banksy’s replica wall introduced the opposite reality: restriction, separation and the physical structures that can determine how people move through a landscape.
Banksy, The Walled Off Hotel, Palestine Stand, World Trade Market, London Excel 2018. Image copyright GraffitiStreet
Banksy’s Free Palestine Poster
Banksy also announced that visitors to the stand would be able to collect a free Palestine poster, with 1,000 copies made available on each day of the installation.
“We’ll be at the Palestine stand giving away free stuff, World Travel Fair, London Excel centre 6th and 7th November. Free to get in if you register online today and pretend to be a travel agent.” Banksy
The poster allowed the project to move beyond the stand itself, giving visitors something tangible to take away while extending the conversation around Palestine, tourism and The Walled Off Hotel.
Banksy, The Walled Off Hotel, Palestine Stand, World Trade Market, London Excel 2018. Image copyright GraffitiStreet
Why Banksy’s World Travel Market Installation Mattered
Banksy’s appearance at World Travel Market was an unusual extension of his work in Palestine. The imagery remained familiar, including the wall, the cherubs and The Walled Off Hotel, yet the location shifted the conversation into an international commercial setting built around travel.
For those of us who had already visited Bethlehem and experienced The Walled Off Hotel first-hand, seeing that imagery transported into ExCeL created an extraordinary contrast. The wall that dominates the physical landscape around the hotel had become a temporary structure inside a London exhibition hall, surrounded by stands promoting travel across the world. The installation ensured that Palestine occupied a highly visible place within that conversation.
The World Travel Market project forms part of Banksy’s much wider relationship with Bethlehem, the West Bank and Gaza, stretching across street art, installations, theatre, film and The Walled Off Hotel. Explore the complete guide to Banksy’s art in Palestine.
Banksy, The Walled Off Hotel, Palestine Stand, World Trade Market, London Excel 2018. Image copyright GraffitiStreet
