As Banksy’s Animal Art Series Ends, Caretakers Grapple With How to Preserve His Murals

Each day between August 5 and 13, the street artist Banksy unveiled a new animal-themed mural in London. The series ended last week with a gorilla stenciled onto the entrance to the London Zoo. In the mural, the ape appeared to be lifting the zoo’s metal shutters as if they were fabric, allowing other animals to escape into the city.

The piece bookended the mysterious series, which generated buzz across London. Locals and tourists flocked to see the public artworks, while internet sleuths turned to social media to decipher what it all meant.

“There’s strong evidence over the years that Banksy sees himself as a political artist and has a resonance in political terms in almost everything that he does,” Andrew Renton, a curator at Goldsmiths University of London, tells NPR’s Willem Marx. “And it’s kind of interesting, because the works that have appeared in the past week are in many ways not political.”

The anonymous artist never revealed any hints about his intentions. Now that the whimsical series has concluded, the people responsible for the buildings and objects tagged with murals are left wondering what to do next.

Last week, when the ninth and final piece was unveiled, zoo officials started discussing plans to keep it safe. They removed the mural a few days later.

“We’ll definitely preserve it,” Daniel Simmonds, the London Zoo’s animal operations manager, tells BBC News’ Aurelia Foster and Harry Low. “The last thing we want with typical London weather, having just come through one of the worst winters ever, is to see this damaged by the weather.”

Unfortunately, many of the artworks in the series have already sustained damage. Thieves stole a mural depicting a howling wolf on a satellite dish just hours after the artist unveiled the work in an Instagram post on August 8. Several days later, vandals sprayed a graffiti tag onto a stencil of a rhino. A mural of two elephants poking their heads out of windows has also been defaced.

Other pieces in the series were taken down for preservation reasons. Banksy’s mural of a large cat stretching across a dilapidated ​​billboard was removed by “contractors who feared it would be ripped down,” reports the Observer’s Vanessa Thorpe. City officials also moved a police box with painted piranhas to a secure location.

According to Kathryn England, the zoo’s chief operating officer, the gorilla stencil was taken down for similar reasons.

“Alongside the fact that we need to be able to make full use of our entrance during the busy summer period, we’re removing the artwork from the main entrance in order to best care for it while plans are made for its future,” says England in a statement.

She adds that the mural is a “significant moment in our history” and that zoo staffers are “incredibly grateful to Banksy for putting wildlife in the spotlight.”

Even though the original mural is no longer there, the zoo is trying not to spoil the fun. According to BBC News’ Amy Walker, the stencil has been replaced by an identical replica. A nearby sign reads, “Banksy woz ere.”

Julia Binswanger | READ MORE

Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Her work has been featured in WBEZ, Chicago magazine, Rebellious magazine and PC magazine.