Writing by Real Gary Rowe (web | ig) for Thick As Thieves “streetwear and graff supplies” in Kent Street for HTN2020.
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Thick As Thieves
Month: Dec 2020
A Blythe Yuletide Tae Yin An Aa
“Glorie tae God, the Messiah’s come noo”. The story of the birth of Jesus is told in Ulstèr-Scotch passages from the Bible and from Alexander Halliday’s song on tarps around the North Belfast Orange Memorial Hall. “A virgin will cairrie a wean … an whan he’s boarn, he’ll be caad Immanuel, mainin “God is wi iz.” (Mattha 1v23)” “When frae the East the wise men cam/The staur in Bethlehem was brightly shinin’/Doon on the place whaur lay the Lamb/And the angels roon’ about were singin’.”
The NHS tarp on the front of the hall was featured in July.
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Stay Safe And Wear A Mask
A six-week lockdown began at midnight last night with restrictions including an overnight curfew and an end to all “close contact” services (Belfast Live). Shown today are two of larger posters in Sinn Féin’s ‘wear a mask’ campaign, featuring Paul Maskey and Fra McCann, MP and MLA for Belfast West.
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The Holy Family
Christmas greetings from Holy Family Parish, in four languages: “Happy Christmas” in English, “Nollaig Shona” in Irish, “Wesołych Świąt” in Polish, and “ക്രിസ്മസ് ആശംസകൾ”/”krismas āśansakaḷ” in Malayalam. Many nurses working in Ireland come from Kerala (Irish Times). The hoarding is next to Brothers Asian take-away on the Antrim Road at – “A bite of Asia”.
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Reıfreann Anoıs
“Referendum now”. On this day 100 years ago (1920-12-23) the ‘Government Of Ireland Act‘ – the fourth Home Rule bill – was passed in the UK parliament, partitioning Ireland into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland, both within the UK. The rest, as they say, is history, history we are still living out. Sınn Féın’s Mary Lou McDonald claimed (in an interview with Owen Jones of the Guardian) that Irish unity would be achieved this decade. Martin McGuinness said in 2003 that unity would be achieved by the centenary of the Rising (Indo) but that year has come and gone. (Feb poll | Oct poll)
Previously: #TimeForUnity | Time For Irish Unity
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Gangbangers Vs. The Auto Crime Team
“Fuck the auto-crime team” say the hoods of the New Lodge Road. In October, a car stolen from the Whitewell was recovered (Fb), and in January an ACT car was rammed by a car thief in Sandy Row (Belfast Live).
The graffiti are on Regent Street, Belfast.
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Bonies
Photographer Mariusz Smiejek (web | ig) was born in Poland in 1978 but moved to Northern Ireland in 2011, which is when he started taking pictures of bonfires – in areas such as Highfield, the Village, and the Shankill – and the people around them. The full gallery for his ‘Bonies’ project is available on his web site.
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Teeny Bikinis
A reminder of summer to get us through a bleak Coronavirus Christmas from designer and artist Wee Nuls (ig | web) in Kent Street for HTN2020. Her merch is available from the Vault pop-up shop.
Previously Wee Elf | Fat Gremlin
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Community Heroes
Walkway Community Centre (Fb) in east Belfast got a new mural back in May, painted by Nathan Calderwood, to thank all of the “community heroes” working during the pandemic. “ea” (on the left) is for Education Authority who sponsored the work.
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Sick Of Covid
A six-week lockdown beginning on December 26th was approved last night by the executive, which said the current situation required an “urgent intervention” (BBC). The lockdowns are difficult for everyone, not just financially but psychologically. (See previously: Home Is Where The Hurt Is.) This Broadway graffiti suggests that the lockdowns are promoting suicides, though there do not appear to be data yet suggesting an increase in suicide during the pandemic. ‘Action 61’ appears to be a fringe protest group.
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Extramural Activity 