The Banksy mural ‘The Migrant Child’, removed from a Venetian palazzo last year for emergency restoration, has been unveiled to the public. It is touring the canals of Venice this weekend as part of the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
One of the most powerful pieces of street art in Italy is visible again. Banksy’s The Migrant Child — a mural depicting a child standing in water, wearing a life jacket and raising a pink smoke flare — was unveiled on 7 May at Tesa 113 in the Venice Arsenal. It has undergone a restoration and salvage project funded by Banca Ifis.
The work first appeared overnight on 8–9 May 2019 on the facade of the sixteenth-century Palazzo San Pantalon in Venice’s Santa Croce district. The subject is a child with feet submerged in the water of the Venetian lagoon, seeking help while wielding a flare that releases a cloud of pink smoke — a symbolic indictment of the migration crisis and the humanitarian emergency at sea. It is one of only two works signed by Banksy and officially confirmed by the artist in Italy.
Six years of neglect had led to the deterioration of approximately a third of the work, with wave motion, salt and wind gradually erasing its outlines. The decision to intervene became urgent.
The Rescue Operation
Banca Ifis acquired Palazzo San Pantalon in 2024 in response to an appeal from Italy’s Ministry of Culture, with the goal of returning the palace — and its extraordinary mural — to the city of Venice. The bank said it consulted with people close to Banksy, though it did not confirm direct permission from the artist.
The conservative restoration of the work was entrusted to Federico Borgogni, a restorer with specific experience in treating murals by Banksy. He had previously worked in the protection of the artist’s work in urban contexts and on particularly delicate wall surfaces. The restoration began in June 2025, with the removal of the section of the palazzo’s facade on which the mural was painted taking place in July.
The Unveiling
The restoration was presented as part of the Curated by Heart event at the 61st International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
Kailash Satyarthi, who received the Nobel Prize for his decades of work against child labour and exploitation, spoke of his ongoing commitment to children living under conditions of conflict and poverty around the world. Zaia acknowledged the role of art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, who had championed the work’s preservation during his time as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, and noted that 473 million children are currently living under bombs.
Fürstenberg Fassio, Chairman of Banca Ifis, reflected on the wider significance of the initiative. “This work, both fragile and powerful, speaks a universal language of peace, inclusion and human rights, and urges us not to succumb to indifference. The journey that is completed today demonstrates just how crucial collaboration between the public and private sectors is in transforming a conservation project into a vision for the future, capable of giving back to the community not only a building, but also its deeper meaning.”
On 8 and 9 May, Migrant Child is travelling on a boat along the canals of Venice. The sight of a work about migration moving through the waterways of a city so intimately connected to the sea carries its own quiet force.
Art in the Classroom
To mark the occasion, Banca Ifis also launched a new national educational initiative. The project, created in collaboration with Treccani and entitled Migrant Child — Diritti all’opera, will be brought to middle schools across Italy during the 2026–2027 school year.
It will use the work as a gateway to discussions of art, human rights, and migration with young people.
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