Banksy art show draws thousands to Bristol

The massive, free Banksy exhibit in the British artist's hometown of Bristol this summer has already more than doubled its expected attendance, with organizers extendingits hours before the show draws to a close.

Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery has drawn more than 230,000 visitors since it opened the surprise exhibit, titledBanksyvs Bristol Museum, in mid-June. Organizers had expected about 100,000 to come through the door.

The show is the largest ever for the graffiti artist, and features more than 100 thought-provoking and satirical works displayed throughout the three-storey Edwardian-era museum facility.

Only a handful of people knew about the exhibit in advance. But once it opened, it made headlines internationally.

4-hour queues

"We knew it was going to be big but I don't think we appreciated just how big," a Bristol City Council spokesperson said, according to the BBC.

Because the gallery has a capacity of 650 people, there were queues at the entrance from the start. However, demand to see the show has increased dramatically as the summer progressed. Recently, visitors have been waiting four hours in line.

The museum, which usually opens from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., has remained open an extra three hours every Wednesday in August.

"The exhibition has drawn in people from around the world," a council spokesperson said.

"It's not just local people and visitors from the U.K. who want to see this. We have had people from all over, including Finland, Japan, New York and even Uzbekistan."

1 contract revealed

Last week, Banksy's contract with Bristol City Council for the exhibit was releasedafter arequest under Britain's Freedom of Information Act.

It revealed that the mysterious artist, who conceals his identity, accepted a fee of just 1 (about $1.75 Cdn.) for the exhibit on the condition that organizers destroy all closed circuit camera footage of him installing, arranging and eventually removing his artwork.

"It's the best pound we've spent," said Simon Cook, deputy leader of Bristol City Council.

Some areas of the contract, including names, the values of the various artworks and the costs of staging the exhibit, were obscured.

According to a letter accompanying the document, the redacted segments encompassed information that could identify the artist, his commercial interests or other material that is subject to legal privilege.