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Banksy: Potential new artwork appears at model village in Great Yarmouth

Miniature stable appeared at model village overnight on Sunday

Isobel Lewis
Monday 09 August 2021 15:16 BST
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The artwork appears to have been signed by Banksy
The artwork appears to have been signed by Banksy (Merrivale Model Village)
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A new artwork, appearing to have been done by Banksy, has appeared at a model village in Great Yarmouth.

Visitors to the Merrivale Model Village in the Norfolk town on Sunday (8 August) morning spotted a new miniature building among the reconstruction.

The small stable features the phrase “Go big or go home” on one side, in red spray paint, and Banksy’s name on the other.

It also features a rat sitting on a wheel, a motif that has repeatedly appeared in the elusive artist’s work.

The model village’s owner Frank Newsome confirmed to BBC News that the building didn’t belong to the model village.

“I’m a layman but we’ve Googled it and it does look genuine so we’re now trying to ascertain via the Banksy website whether it is or it isn’t,” he said.

More artworks in Banksy’s style was discovered in nearby Lowestoft on Friday (6 August), showing three children standing in a boat that appears to have been made out of a piece of scrap metal.

Another showed a child near a dug-up pavement, while two other works in Gorleston and Great Yarmouth showed people dancing on a bus shelter and an arcade-style claw machine.

Banksy is yet to lay claim to any of the works, but can be expected to verify them on his Instagram if they are his.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council’s chief executive Sheila Oxtoby told BBC News: “We’re just as intrigued and curious as everybody else as to whether these could be genuine Banksys. It would be great to think that they were, but we really don’t know.”

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