(ANSA) - Rome, March 16 - French daily Le Monde on Wednesday
published an article on the protest by Blu, a street artist who
this week systematically painted over 20 years' worth of his
public work in Bologna in a demonstration against a museum show
on street art set to open there tomorrow.
Blu, named by The Guardian in 2011 as one of the world's
top 10 street artists, covered his work with gray paint to
protest against the commercialisation and the 'museumification'
of his work, some of which will be on display without his
authorisation in the show "Street Art: Banksy & Co." at
Bologna's Palazzo Pepoli.
The show was organised by Fabio Roversi-Monaco, president
of the city's Genus Bononiae museum group, with the Carisbo bank
Foundation, and includes 250 works, some of which were removed
from their original locations on various city walls.
Organisers said the aim of the show is "to start a
reflection on how to save, conserve, and display these urban
experiences in museums".
On his blog, Blu wrote: "there's no more Blu in Bologna"
and linked to a protest article at the Wu Ming Foundation
website, which called Blu's protest "action against the rich and
powerful who take street art off the street".
Blu destroys 20 years of street art in protest
Le Monde publishes article on eve of show's opening