Themes around refugees and displacement feature strongly in a new exhibition of the work of the world’s most famous street artist Banksy, which recently opened in Melbourne.

‘The Art of Banksy: Without Limits’ is a blockbuster exhibition featuring murals, sculptures, photos and mapping shows – which are images or animations projected onto irregularly shaped surfaces.

There are also installations, including an “infinity room” filled with mirrors, and a simulation of ‘Dismaland Bemusement Park’ – a gritty, dark theme park that was created by Banksy in 2015.

The show includes more than 180 of the artist’s works, including over 70 original prints.

It also includes a mix of replicas and originals of some of the artist’s most famous works, like ‘Rude Copper’, ‘Flower Thrower’ and the instantly recognisable ‘Girl with Balloon’.

There are also more recent murals that serve as comment on the war in Ukraine.

There is even a space that references the MV Louise Michel, the high-speed boat that Banksy financially keeps afloat in the Mediterranean to rescue refugees.

Banksy has become world famous for his clever political and social graffiti.

 He has consistently denounced injustice, inequality, and contradictions in contemporary society, from excessive consumerism to climate change and the horrors of war.

As part of this, he often highlights the condition of migrants, their stories, and their value.

In 2015, Banksy created a temporary exhibition called Dismaland, referencing both the word “dismal” and Disneyland.

Among the most famous masterpieces of Dismaland was the Refugee Pond. In an artificial pond, people could play with four remote-control boats – they were three ships full of migrants and a police motorboat.

The piece was created to underline again especially the condition of Syrian refugees.

After exhibition, Banksy sold the boats to donate the proceeds to help the refugee camp in Calais, France, where lots of Syrian people were staying.

Banksy is the pseudonym of a UK-based street artist, political satirist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation.

He has been active since the 1990s, displaying his art on publicly visible surfaces such as walls and self-built physical prop pieces.

He no longer sells photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti, but his public “installations” are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall on which they were painted.

The exhibition is at The District in Docklands until July 27.

Find out more:  The Art of Banksy Melbourne: “Without Limits” Exhibition (artofbanksyau.com)