The police sentry box-turned-aquarium will be displayed at the new London Museum in 2026
Last August, a slew of animal-themed Banksy artworks, including a goat perched on top of a small ledge, silhouettes of two elephants in windows reaching their trunks out toward each other, three monkeys swinging along a bridge and two pelicans eating fish, appeared across the capital over nine days, sending street art fans into a frenzy. A few of the pieces, like a howling wolf on a satellite dish in Peckham, a stretching cat on an empty billboard in Cricklewood, and a rhino seeming to climb a broken-down Nissan Micra in Charlton, were either stolen, defaced or removed within hours of their appearance.
Once the tank of piranhas on a City of London police box was confirmed to be a Banksy, it was removed from its original Ludgate Hill position and moved to Guildhall Yard so it could be admired from a safe distance. Now the piece will be going into storage ahead of getting a permanent home inside the new London Museum, opening in Smithfield next year, after the City of London Corporation chose to donate it to the institution.
Speaking about the acquisition, Glyn Davies, London Museum’s head of curatorial, said: “With the arrival of Banksy’s Piranhas, our collection now spans from Roman graffiti to our first piece of contemporary street art. This work by one of the world’s most iconic artists now belongs to Londoners, and will keep making waves when it goes on show next year in the Museum’s new Smithfield home.”
If you can’t wait until next year to set your eyes on some Banksy, you can check out the artist’s piece featuring a rat hanging from the arm of a clock, painted on the door of a TfL signal control controller cabinet, at the London Transport Museum.
Key Information
Opening date | 2026
Address | W Smithfield, London EC1A 9PS
For more information | londonmuseum.org.uk
