migrant child bansky venezia

Banksy mural in Venice to be removed for restoration: How they’ll take ‘Migrant Child’ off the wall

The work Migrant Child of Banksy in Venice.

In the next few days the mural Migrant child (“migrant child”), stencil work by the famous street artist Banksywill be removed for restoration. The work, which appeared in 2019 to Venice on the wall of Pantalon Palace in the Dorsoduro district, it depicts a child with a sorrowful face intent on launching a fuchsia rocket in the hope of being noticed and saved, while the waters of the canal risk swallowing him. The mural has undergone a very rapid degradation due to the humidity, saltiness and abundant waves of the Rio Novo, one of the busiest canals in the city. In March 2024 Ifis Bank purchased Palazzo Pantalon precisely with the aim of restoring the mural.

This project is dividing public opinion and professionals: for some it is not right to relocate a work of street art from the original context in which the artist wanted it, well aware of the deterioration it is facing; for others, however, it should be treated as a cultural asset whose duration over time brings value to the community and must therefore be preserved.

But as is technically possible “detach” a mural from a walland then reattach it? Refined techniques of conservation of masonry art are needed, handed down for centuries by artisans and master restorers.

Migrant child by Banksy: the (divisive) mural restoration project

Banksy he is undoubtedly an “uncomfortable” artist: in addition to keeping his identity secret, his works contain an open political denunciation and social criticism and – just as the essence of street art requires – they are created without asking permission from the owners of the walls and in recent years they have been claimed via social media. In Italy, the artist has created two works: one is precisely Migrant Childthe other is The Madonna with the pistola, in Piazza Girolomoni in Naples.

Madonna with the Banksy Gun Naples
The work Madonna with the gun of Banksy in Naples. Credit: Antoine Pitrou (FAL or FAL), via Wikimedia Commons

Banksy, on several occasions, has released communications in which he has shown himself against the decontextualization of his works of art and the exhibition in museums, as well as against paying the ticket to see them.

On the occasion of the restoration, we therefore ask ourselves whether the English artist’s desire is really to renew it, or whether its degradation – given the place specifically chosen for its installation – is part of the work, whose transience expresses its profound meaninggiven the topic covered.

In an October 2023 press conference released by the Ministry of Culture, Vittorio Sgarbi – then undersecretary for culture – spoke in favor of the restoration and announced that, thanks to an important bank that came into play, the intervention could be carried out. Palazzo Pantalon has in fact been purchased by Banca Ifis, which will restore not only the mural but also the interiors of the building to create a company headquarters and an exhibition space.

The tender for the restoration was then won by the architectural firm of Zaha Hadidin collaboration with Superintendency of the Ministry of CultureThe Municipality of Venice and the Veneto Regionand in these days of January 2025 we will proceed with the removal of Migrant Child.

Migrant Child Banksy
In the background on the left, the opera Migrant Child by Banksy.

How to “tear” a mural from a wall to restore it

But then, how to remove a mural from a wall and how do we proceed with its restoration and relocation?

Given that, given the technical difficulties highlighted and the terrible state of Palazzo Pantalon, we are not certain what actions will actually be implemented by the restorers and owners of the walls regarding Migrant Childlet’s see how conservation work of this type can be implemented.

First of all, let’s dispel a myth: you don’t detach a piece of wall and then reattach it, it is only the work that is removed.

The technique, developed already in the 18th century by artisans and restorers, takes its name “tear technique”: the first step is to create a fabric canvas that covers the work and part of the wall that surrounds it.

Proceeding with extreme caution, a chisel is then used to detach the canvas from the wall, removing a layer of a few millimeters to which the work will also be attached. You will therefore have in your hand a real transportable and potentially rollable canvas, just like the canvas of a painting.

The canvas is transported, the work is restored, and then placed on a new canvas, which will then be reattached to the original wall or placed in an exhibition space.

In the specific case of Migrant Childthe superintendent assessed that the environmental condition in which it is located due to the presence of water and the wall impregnated with salts presents an “unprecedented” case.

The current ownership has expressed itself in favor of relocation, hoping that Banksy’s work will remain on site, but the possibility of giving it a new “home” in an exhibition space in Venice, replacing it with a reproduction, has also been evaluated.

The debate continues, it is natural to ask what the artist himself would do, but in the meantime we can take note of the fact that on the website of Pest Controlthe company that handles the bureaucracy for the graffiti artist we are told:

If you are thinking of contacting us because you have privileged access to secured areas that need to be vandalized, please do so.