|
 Rabea Darduna, a father of six from northern Gaza, said he
sold the iron-and-brick doorway of his destroyed house to a
local man who offered him 700 shekels ($175) for it.
Banksy, a British street artist who is famed for his ironic
murals in unexpected places, visited Gaza earlier this year and
spray-painted an image of a goddess holding her head in her hand
on the door, one of a handful of paintings he did in Gaza.
"I had no idea what the value of the painting was or who this
Banksy is," a frustrated Darduna told Reuters by telephone. "If
I knew I would never have sold the door so cheap."
Banksy pieces regularly sell for more than $500,000. A mural
painted on a shop in London in 2013 sold at a private auction
for $1.1 million. Banksy, who is from Bristol in the west of
England, has never revealed his true identity.
Darduna said he felt swindled and had been trying to call the
man who bought the door but had got no reply.
"I want to get it back first, and then I can look at offers," he
said, pointing out that his house had been destroyed in last
year's war and he needed money for rent and his family.
"Next time I'll sell it as a Banksy painting, not as an old
door."
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The local man who bought it, graffiti artist and journalist Belal
Khaled, said he had no plans to give the door back and no plans to
sell it "at present".
"I bought the door to preserve the painting and protect it from
being removed, spoiled or destroyed," he told Reuters, adding that
he had followed Banksy for a number of years and was inspired by his
work.
"Since I started as a graffiti artist it has been my dream to own a
piece of Banksy art."
Khaled said he told Darduna the painting on his door was by Banksy
but it didn't seem to register. Asked if he was thinking of selling
the painting, he replied:
"I am not thinking of selling it at the present time.
"I will consider offers to display it in international galleries to
speak about the suffering of Gaza and the agonies of war."
(Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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