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MILAN (AP) — 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
Thursday.
The removal from the wall of 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 program that promotes art and culture.
The artwork depicting a shipwrecked child holding a pink smoke
bomb and wearing a lifejacket appeared along Rio di San Pantalon
in Venice in May 2019, and was acknowledged by Banksy. Marked on
online maps, it has become a tourist destination.
But six years of neglect had led to the deterioration of about a
third of the work, the bank said.
The restoration is being overseen by Federico Borgogni, who
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 is financing the project, but
didn't release the cost of the operation.
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.
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