{"id":7150,"date":"2025-05-09T13:50:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T10:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/?post_type=portfolios&p=7150"},"modified":"2026-01-08T11:49:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T08:49:06","slug":"devolved-parliament","status":"publish","type":"portfolios","link":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/en\/portfolios\/devolved-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"Devolved Parliament"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Devolved Parliament<\/h1>\r\n

Bristol Museum, Bristol, England, 2009<\/p>\r\n <\/div>\r\n <\/div>\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/section>\r\n\r\n \t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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First exhibited at the Banksy vs. Bristol Museum show, Devolved Parliament is a striking oil painting that offers an iconic critique of political satire and chaos.

The exhibition was a groundbreaking project where Banksy took over the museum, discreetly placing his works among classical pieces. It attracted over 300,000 visitors, becoming one of the most visited exhibitions globally in 2009.

Originally titled Question Time, Devolved Parliament is a large-scale oil painting by Banksy, measuring 2.5 x 4.2 meters. The artwork depicts the iconic chamber of the UK House of Commons, but instead of MPs, it features chimpanzees\u2014symbolizing irrational and primal behavior\u2014seated as if in a parliamentary session. While Banksy preserves the formal tones of the parliament, the chaotic movements of the chimpanzees disrupt this seriousness.

In 2019, the piece was sold at Sotheby\u2019s auction for approximately $12.2 million. Banksy commented post-sale, \u201cShame I didn\u2019t still own it.\u201d That same year, re-exhibited around the original \u201cBrexit day,\u201d the painting included modifications such as extinguished lamps symbolizing the parliament\u2019s dysfunction and a downward-facing banana held by a chimp, emphasizing the transience of leaders\u2019 authority. Banksy\u2019s addition of the inscription \u201cLaugh now, but one day no one will be in charge\u201d deepens the artwork\u2019s commentary on political power dynamics.

The chimpanzees in the piece reference Banksy\u2019s earlier work Laugh Now, which bore the inscription \u201cLaugh now, but one day we\u2019ll be in charge,\u201d a theme that continues in Devolved Parliament. The 2019 addition of \u201cLaugh now, but one day no one will be in charge\u201d underscores the transience and chaotic nature of political authority.

Banksy critiques the devolved nature of the political system; while \u201cdevolved\u201d refers to the delegation of powers to local governments in the UK, Banksy interprets it as the political system having \u201cdegenerated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"featured_media":7152,"template":"","portfolios_categories":[85],"class_list":["post-7150","portfolios","type-portfolios","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolios_categories-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolios\/7150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolios"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolios"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolios\/7150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8659,"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolios\/7150\/revisions\/8659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"portfolios_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theworldofbanksy.de\/multimediaguide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolios_categories?post=7150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}