When “Unauthorized” Became the Magic Word

ArtMagazine

Aug 21

After “What’s a Banksy Museum Without Banksy?” by Max Lakin for The New York Times

Words Amanda Juico Dela Cruz
August 20, 2024

It was exactly 6:59 in the evening – way past the office hours and just a minute before dinner time – of 22 April when I emailed my managing editor to pitch an article about an upcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. “SPRAYING SOON…” the publicity material said that was uploaded in the Facebook page of The M three hours ago. Meaning, three hours had already passed since people knew about the exhibition of works by/on Banksy. I was not sure which preposition to use then since there were no details yet. The teasers that were uploaded one after another that evening only caused churning in my stomach and in the stomachs of those who had scrolled through the first publicity material from three hours ago, I could imagine, based on the buzz it instantly created on social media. I had to be the first contributor to pitch to the editorial team, I thought, but my excitement was rivaled by my anxiety that someone elsemight have already done so and so I did not schedule send my email for tomorrow morning.

Installation views of Banksy Universe | Manila 2024.

A friend messaged me that same night asking for my thoughts about the possibilities of/in the exhibition. The uncertainty again in my preposition proved the marketing strategy effective; not to mention the enigma exuded by and the unpredictability of the street artist himself added to the excitement initially felt by the crowd. I said to my friend that I was hoping that The M would not display museum-quality replications. They must be better than that, I ended my very short two cents. The truth was it would not be surprising (and it indeed did not surprise me) if they would. Countless museums all over the world have done what The M had intended to put up. Banksy Universe Manila 2024 was not a new concept. There was Musée Banksy Bruxelles. There was also the traveling exhibition The Art of Banksy: Without Limits first stopped in Brisbane then in Adelaide then in Sydney, now in Melbourne, and coming soon in Perth. Banksy Museum in New York City also just opened, the subject of Max Lakin’s op-ed piece. From opinion pieces to podcast discussions to boycott attempts, so much has already been said that navigates one of Lakin’s questions: “Does street art still function when removed from the street?” And so, we might as well move on to the next question.

What exactly did I mean by “They must be better than that?” It was an empty commentary at that time that I only uttered probably to have something to say, but I realized soon after that it was a loaded statement.