Extramural Activity

Here is the full image of the new ‘Wartime Work’ piece by Jonny McKerr (tw). The central image of soldiers at the battle of the Somme is surrounded by images of various occupations: shipyard workers and miners perhaps, along with women welding, carrying coke and nursing. It’s not clear what the “fair wartime wage” refers to: there was a general strike at the shipyards in 1919 (The Great Unrest | Workers’ Liberty). The original Somme photograph (also used in Sir Edward Bingham) is shown at the bottom of this page, as are the welder and the nurse (who is apparently the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (WP). The woman carrying a sack of coke is from the Imperial War Museum’s collection.

The image above is from after the main wall was completed; the second image, below, shows the lower wall also. The lower wall is intended to be full, but painting has ceased indefinitely. The third image below shows the red, white, and blue kerbstones, with the H&W cranes in the distance. See yesterday’s post (The Undertaker) for an in-progress shot; another can be found at Arts For All. Last year McKerr did a similarly-styled piece on The Belfast Blitz.

Update: see the final two images for additions to the front wall.