In summer 2009, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, after months of secret planning, launched an exhibition which saw queues around the block.
The Banksy v Bristol Museum exhibition, in which the graffiti artist ‘remixed’ the museum’s usual collection by placing a hundred of his own exhibits amongst it, became an unexpected phenomenon, drawing in large numbers of visitors from outside the local area.
The artist Banksy is from Bristol and is well-known to Bristol audiences. The museum anticipated that the main audience would be his younger fan-base of 14-25 year olds, but the reality was that his appeal is very much broader than this. Visitors came from outside the region travelling from all parts of the UK and Ireland and many from overseas, including Russia, Japan, Europe, Australia and the US.
Despite expecting visits from mainly younger people, the exhibition was a hit with older visitors too. Vera Flemina said, “Last week I came to see the Banksy Exhibition. I am 87 years old: I can’t recall when I last had such a wonderful experience. I was happy, my ancient batteries re-charged. Being amongst so many young people was good – I love the young – I felt so privileged to see Banksy’s work. Perhaps I will go to Glastonbury next year – whatever! Thank you, BANKSY!”
The impact upon tourism in Bristol was huge. A Destination Bristol evaluation report stated that a total of 308,719 people attended the exhibition. Of these, 106,744 visitors lived within 25 miles of the museum and 201,975 lived farther away. 97.8% of non-local visitors (197,531) had prior knowledge of the exhibition, the rest found out about it after their arrival in the city. 69.4% of all non-local trips were motivated by the exhibition - that is if the exhibition had not been on, these people would not have visited the city. The exhibition therefore generated a total of 140,170 additional trips to Bristol by non-local people.
The spending generated by non-local visitors whose trips were solely motivated by the Banksy exhibition was calculated to be £6,169,610 by staying visitors and £4,238,736 by day visitors – demonstrating the enormous economic impact museums can have to their immediate communities and beyond.
According to a leaked copy of the contract between the museum and Banksy, the artist was paid a fee of £1 to exhibit his work. According to Councillor Simon Cook this was the “best pound the council ever spent.”
As a result of the exhibition confidence both within the service, and in the region for what the museum can do for tourism, has grown.
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is now keen to build on what they learned from this exhibition. They have changed practice as a result. For example, museum staff are working with smaller project teams on exhibitions that have greater scope for decision-making and are using social networking as a key means to reach a wider and younger technologically competent audience.
They are also using viral marketing techniques, encouraging rather than discouraging photographing of collections and exhibitions – to encourage visitors to do more promotion through their own networks.
Above all, as Philip Walker, Exhibitions Manager explains, “being bold, provocative, and unexpected we aim to attract, engage and have a positive impact on our local communities.”
For more information on this case study visit the MLA Research website.