Artists are raising concerns about Italy’s plans to restore a mural by the street artist Banksy in Venice, which has faded due to exposure to the elements. In early October, the Italian Culture Ministry first announced the plans to restore the mural known as The Migrant Child, painted on the wall outside an abandoned Venetian palace in the city’s Dorsoduro Sestiere district one night in 2019. It is one of two Banksy works in Italy. 

“The mural by the British artist, one of the leading exponents of street art, whose true identity remains unknown, is deteriorating due to humidity, high water, and salt spray,” the ministry statement reads. Specifically, the Venice Banksy is located on the Grand Canal on a lower part of the palace’s wall typically left unpainted and exposed to waves from passing motorboats.