Hotel chain invites guests to steal artwork

One hotel, however, is inviting guests to steal art, in a clever promotion drawn up by Art Series Hotels, an Australian chain, for the summer.

Guests who book a room at the chain’s properties between December 15 and January 15 are being challenged to ‘steal’ a Banksy print worth AU$15,000, with the promise that they can keep it if they successfully pull off the heist.

The print, “No Ball Games,” has been authenticated and signed by Banksy and will be circulating through Art Series’ three Melbourne hotels — The Olsen, The Cullen and The Blackman — during the month.

Any guest that manages to make off with the piece will be allowed to keep it, the hotel says, but those caught in the act will have to return it to be hung on the wall..

The promotion is a clever twist on Banksy’s own statements on art — the Britain-based artist has been known to sneak into galleries and hang his work alongside the curated works — and also pokes fun at several thieves who have attempted to remove the graffitied art from streets to sell.