ADVERTISEMENT Art restorers have removed a deteriorating piece of graffiti by the street artist Banksy, titled ‘The Migrant Child’, from the side of a building overlooking a Venetian canal to preserve the work for future public display, officials said on Thursday.
The removal from the wall of the 17th-century Palazzo San Pantalon was carried out in consultation with people close to the secretive British street artist, according to the Venice-based bank Banca Ifis’ art programme.
The Italian bank bought the building last year and is funding its entire restoration, mural included. The cost of the operation was not disclosed.
The famous artwork depicts a shipwrecked child holding a pink smoke bomb and wearing a lifejacket.
It appeared in Venice in May 2019, during the city’s Biennale, and was acknowledged by Banksy. Initially serving as a commentary on the global refugee crisis, it has since become a tourist attraction.
But six years of neglect and exposure to humidity and salt have led to the deterioration of about a third of the work, Banca Ifis said.
Venice’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro and the president of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, had reached out to the Italian government for help. Vittorio Sgarbi, then the under-secretary for Culture, took it upon himself to restore the work.
The restoration plan was first announced in 2023 but the initiative sparked anger among local architectural and artistic communities.
“Banksy was no fool; he was fully aware that his waterside creation wasn’t meant to endure. Restoring it goes against the grain”, Evyrein, a local artist, told Euronews Culture in 2023.
The restoration is being overseen by restorer Federico Borgogni. He previously removed dust and cleaned the surface before detaching a section of the palazzo’s facade overnight Wednesday, Banca Ifis said in a statement.
The bank intends to display the work to the public as part of free cultural events organized by Ifis art once restoration is completed. No time frame was given.
