Sweden’s ‘Banksy Mouse,’ Anonymouse, unmasked after 9 years in the shadows

After nine years scurrying in the shadows, the two-person Swedish street art collective known as “Anonymouse”—dubbed “Banksy Mouse” by Swedish media—has finally stepped out of the dark and into a museum exhibition. The mystery began in late 2016 when miniature homes and businesses, all measuring well below knee height, began appearing on the streets of southern Sweden. It looked like a bunch of mice had opened a tiny restaurant named Il Topolino and neighboring nut delicatessen Noix de Vie, but there was no clue to who created it besides a signature from an anonymous artist group “Anonymouse.” The original creation on Bergsgatan, a busy street in Malmö, quickly attracted attention and went viral, drawing crowds. The project was even featured on the popular U.S. TV show The Late Late Show with James Corden. The two artists behind the whiskery art project stepped out of their anonymity earlier this year. Swedes Elin Westerholm and Lupus Nensén both work in show business, making props and sets for film and television. “We’re building something for children,” says 42-year-old Nensén. “Most of us have some kind of relationship to a world where mice live parallel to ours. If it’s The Rescuers or if it's Rescue Rangers or Beatrix Potter or Astrid Lindgren, it exists in a variety of shapes around the world.” On June 27, a selection of the duo’s creations has been put on display at the Skissernas Museum in Lund, a short trip from Malmö, to celebrate nine years of “mouse pranks and creativity.” The duo says the idea for “Anonymouse” came during a trip to Paris in 2016. Their first creation took six months to build, before they secretively installed it on Bergsgatan one cold, dark night. “It’s amazing to see a 70-year-old come over with crutches, and people help them down and have a look,” says Nensén. “It really does bring out the child in everyone.” The following nine years saw more mouse homes and businesses appear in unexpected places: First in Sweden, then all over the world. This article was provided by The Associated Press.