Way back in December 2019 Banksy visited the city of Birmingham, UK, with his latest piece of iconic street art, highlighting the state of homelessness. Almost half a year later I’ve decided to write a post about it.
As fate would have it, and as with a few of my Banksy encounters, it happened by chance. I live and work in foggy London Town so when a Banksy piece appears outside the capital it’s not that easy to up-sticks and leave as soon as I would like.
Though luckily for me, on the week when this piece appeared, I was due in Birmingham for a work meeting. And as by chance, it also just happened to be the day after the piece appeared on a wall in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
As always, there’s much build up to this kind of thing and Banksy let the world know about his Xmas art via his Instagram page with the following caption: “God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter – without him ever asking for anything.”
A bit of faith in humanity restored.
It’s also good that the festive stencil was soon covered in protective sheeting not long after by wall owners, Network Rail. Though some ‘vandal’ did manage to add a red nose to the reindeer prior to it being preserved. But at least it fit in with the Christmassy theme.
Though again this Banksy adds to the irony and ongoing war between street art and graffiti and the line between what should and shouldn’t be removed.
In an interview with the BBC, David Golding, of Network Rail, was quoted as saying: “As a railway family our hearts go out to the homeless, especially at this time of year.
“Banksy’s wall art has captured their plight so well. It’s right we protect it so everyone can see it.
“We discourage any graffiti and we spend a lot of time removing it from around the network… but it’s not every day we get a bona fide Banksy.”
Anyway, I remember the day very well. Mainly because I had to catch the fucking 7am train from London’s Euston Station. Though that said, I don’t miss how busy train stations we’re now I’m stuck inside (the UK remains pretty much locked down at the time of writing, due to that ‘China Virus’ as referred to by communist dictator Donald Trump). Peace and quiet and working from home is bliss compared to the state of a packed tube. Someone’s fresh morning breath going up your nostrils as you stand shoulder to shoulder will certainly wake you up.
So I arrived in a rainy Birmingham at around 9.30am on 10th December. I had a work meeting pencilled in for a few hours before a return train to London at 3pm. This meant I had about an hour window to see the Banksy before rushing back to the station.
After my meeting and instead of going for a beer with the others, I set off on my quest to find the festive Banksy.
For reference, it’s about a 20 minute walk from Birmingham New St Station, and can be found on Google Maps.
As a city, Birmingham is pretty cool and has some nice architecture and all that. It reminded me a bit of Manchester. I’d never been to Brum prior to this visit and have never really had reason to go. I’ve never been a massive fan of the city as they’ve been a bit of a bogey team for my boys Leeds United in the past. But all that aside, it seems a decent part of the country.
Obviously as the second biggest city in the country (by population) homelessness is rife, making it an ideal location for Banksy to showcase his work and message to the rest of us. Homelessness is a very serious issue in the UK so for Banksy to produce work on this topic means that it becomes a focal point in the media and brings the subject to the attention of those who should be doing more about it. Whether they actually do something or not is a different story altogether.
On my stroll up to Vyse Street I stumbled upon this rather old looking building which had a proper classic ‘industrial England’ feel to it. Doing a bit of Googling it looks like the company have owned this site since 1927. So yeh, there’s plenty of nice architecture for you to enjoy as well…if you like that sorta thing.
Anyroad, once I go close to the location (following trusty Google Maps), I could already see the chaos that the Bristolian had caused. Going on the day after it had been done meant most of Birmingham had decided to turn up. Well actually there was only about 50-100 people there, but still.
As you can see, National Rail were still on the scene making sure the piece was protected and ensuring no chancers were about to try rip it from the walls.
The ‘clean team’ were also in attendance and probably weren’t happy when they realised there was nothing for them to do.
Local news and media were also spotted interviewing members of the general public, further generating the buzz.
The only thing I wanted to do was get a couple of pictures before rushing back to London, though as you can see, it wasn’t quite as simple as that.
So that was my day out in Birmingham. A last minute work trip that coincided with an unexpected fresh Banksy. And again I don’t think we should forget the most important message from this and do something to help the homeless.
Even if you can’t afford to support a charity, just be a nice person and try help when you see someone in need. Even just acknowledging someone who is living rough means a lot. I volunteered for a charity, Under One Sky. in London back in February and we spent the frosty evening walking around giving out care packages and chatting with those living rough. Many of them said they barely speak to anyone all day, so one of the things that meant the most was just having a chat and being treat like a human being.
I hope the Banksy remains in the Jewellery Quarter and not in some millionaire’s house (unless they donated the entire proceeds to a homeless charity, of course). Though the original perspex cover sold for £2.3K at auction.
If you do want to support a charity and help make a difference to the homeless please look at these two London based charities:
As always feel free to add comments and let me know if you’ve seen the Brummy Banksy.
For further reading check out my other blogs:
Brexit Through The Gift Shop (Dover)
Banksy in NYC (New York)
Banky’s ‘The Drinker’ (London)
Banksy Hunting in LDN (London)
The one and only Banksy (Bristol)
Dismaland Opens for Business (Banksy’s 2015 dystopian theme park)
Thanks for reading and stay safe x
Street Art Everywhere 