The Graffiti Project on Kelburn Castle

Filed Under Art, Video on 2007-07-08, 14:10

Kelburn Castle, one of the oldest castles in Scotland to have been inhabited by the same family, got nailed with spray-paint. This pre-1200s castle is now the canvas for Brazilian graffiti by some of the top artists in the world. The aim of the project is to create great art “whilst challenging the public’s understanding of both urban graffiti art and the British institution the building represents.” The idea stemmed from members of the family who inhabit the castle wondering if they could convince the world-famous Banksy to create a piece on the wall of the castle. The idea soon evolved into recruiting graffiti artists from Brazil to fly out to Scotland, spend a month in the castle and paint the walls and turret along with the help of some local artists.

Before you start questioning whether or not this is disrespectful and whatnot, there’s a few facts. This is supported by the Historic Scotland and of course the owners of the castle. Only two walls and a turret will be covered. This ‘canvas’ was chosen because the concrete currently on the walls is causing damage and will need to be removed in 2 years anyways. So the graffiti will only be displayed for 2 years, so book your flights now if you want to take a look at it. Or you can check out photos of the completed work over on their site. There is also a really neat time lapse video of it being created as well:

The Graffiti Project: Kelburn Castle via pranks.com