Picture a hill, but not one made of earth. A hill built from weapons piled on top of each other. And standing at the very top of that hill are two children, a boy and a girl.

The children have their backs to us, looking into the distance. The boy holds a teddy bear, the girl a red, heart shaped balloon. The boy has his hand on the girl’s shoulder. The figures appear as silhouettes against the dark pile of weapons.

The heart shaped balloon is a direct reference to Banksy’s own body of work, since Girl With Balloon is his most recognised piece. There, the balloon was slipping away from the child’s hand. Here it is still in her hand, but she is holding it on top of a pile of weapons.

The strength of the composition lies in reversing a classic image of victory. Figures standing on a hilltop looking at the horizon are, in painting tradition, a sign of conquest and triumph. Here, what forms the hill is the wreckage of war. So if there is a victory, it is unclear who it belongs to. What they are standing on is not what was won, but everything that was lost.

The teddy bear and the balloon change meaning once placed inside this scene. Both are among the most common symbols of childhood, but both are also fragile, temporary objects that offer no protection at all.

No moment of violence is shown. Only the pile left behind once the violence is over, and the two children who must grow up on top of it.