NEA Copies Banksy With Self-Destructing Social Enterprise Hawker Centre

ritish Artist Banksy is reportedly suing Singapore’s NEA for copyright infringement. The artist alleges that NEA’s self-destructing ‘Social Enterprise Hawker Centre’ is a blatant rip-off of ‘Girl With Balloon’—the self-destructing painting that recently sold at auction.

“If you look at the silly tray-return system, the hidden costs and confusing objectives, it’s obvious that NEA’s ‘Social Enterprise Hawker Centre’ was meant to self-destruct from the get-go,” said Senior Counsel Singh, who is representing Mr. Banksy in S’pore.

“NEA is clearly imitating Mr. Banksy to make a similar point about the ephemeral nature of hawker culture,” the lawyer alleges.

NEA has since denied those allegations and hit back against the anonymous street artist.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, NEA’s spokesperson said: “Mr. Banksy’s claims are totally untrue. The Singapore Government has been destroying hawker culture long before he came onto the scene.”

Top image: Somewhere Else