Banksy opens hotel with world's ugliest view in Bethlehem, West Bank

It is the latest provocation by Banksy, the anonymous artist universally known for his beloved-hated street art works: a hotel in Bethlehem with a view of the wall erected by Israel to divide the city (which is on Palestinian territory) from East Jerusalem. It is the Walled Off Hotel (literally “Walled Hotel”) and bills itself as “the hotel with the ugliest view in the world”: that of the wall.

The project was entirely designed and financed by Banksy, and its construction began fourteen months ago (the opening will instead take place on March 11). The hotel, located in the Israeli-controlled West Bank’s Zone C, consists of nine rooms and a presidential suite “furnished with everything a corrupt head of state needs,” reads the description on Banksy’s website (a bathtub that can accommodate four people, original artwork, a library, a home cinema, a roof garden, a bar). Rooms will cost from $30.

Inside the Walled Off Hotel there could certainly be no shortage of works by Banksy himself. Already images of almost all the rooms have been circulated: in particular, a mural decorating a master bedroom and depicting an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian fighting--a pillow fight--has struck a chord with the public. Each of the rooms has been furnished and decorated in a style that differentiates it from the others. The hotel also houses an art gallery that includes works by the most important Palestinian artists of the last two decades, and a museum that aims to explain to visitors (in a completely unbiased way) the history of the wall separating Bethlehem from East Jerusalem.

The opening falls on the 100th anniversary of the British occupation of Palestine in 1917 (the piano bar, to commemorate the event, has been decorated as a colonial outpost of the time). “The hotel,” the official website points out, “does not take the side of any political movement or lobby. The goal is to tell the story of the wall from every point of view and to give visitors the opportunity to discover it for themselves. Young Israelis are welcome. No fanaticism is allowed inside the hotel.”

Sources: official website - CNN - The Telegraph - Rai News

Banksy opens hotel with world's ugliest view in Bethlehem, West Bank

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.