Venice, Banksy's Migrant Child will be restored and secured. A bank will finance the work

The Migrant Child, the mural created by Banksy on a wall in the vicinity of Campo San Pantalon in the Sestiere Dorsoduro in Venice on the night of May 8-9, 2019, will be restored and secured. The initiative will be made possible thanks to an intervention by Undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi, who has identified amajor bank that will bear the costs.

The mural is one of only two works in Italy by the street artist whose true identity remains unknown. The work is deteriorating from humidity, high water and salt spray, but because the mural is less than 70 years old and the author is living, the Superintendence cannot act. “Alerting me to the fragility of the mural,” Sgarbi explains, “were the mayor of Venice and the president of the Veneto Region. I immediately took action and obtained the availability of a banking foundation that will cover the expenses. We don’t care whether or not the work is more than 70 years old, nor whether the author is alive, nor whether he gives us consent to the restoration, since, among other things, the mural was made ’illegally.’ I take responsibility for the intervention having the delegation on contemporary art, and it is my job to protect it.”

The undersecretary has already contacted the Palazzo’s owner, represented by lawyer Jacopo Molina. Sgarbi has also issued a directive for the Superintendency to still supervise the work since the palace is a listed property.

Details will be explained Wednesday, Oct. 4, at the Ministry of Culture as part of a press conference.

Venice, Banksy's Migrant Child will be restored and secured. A bank will finance the work

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