Author: Extramural Activity

The Orange State

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The orange lily began appearing in murals with some frequency in the mid-2000s (with one earlier appearance in Londonderry; compare this to posts with orange lilies at Peter Moloney – Murals and at Extramural Activity). It became part of the logo of the Orange Order in 2007 – see Design Research Group – and there was an attempt to re-brand the Twelfth as “Orangefest” (Irish Times). It is used in this centenary celebration board to make it clear that Northern Ireland was created as a Protestant and unionist state.

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Funny Things Are Everywhere

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A tiger on the telephone? “From here to there/And there to here/Funny things are everywhere” – a doctrine of Dr. Seuss, from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Painted by Lucas Antics (tw | web) in the style of South Asian truck art that was seen at Belfast Mela at the end of August (2021).

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Celebrate Identities

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Ballynafeigh is the neighborhood just across Ormeau bridge, containing Annadale flats and surrounding streets – home to Ormeau Road UDA/UFF and Ballynafeigh Apprentice Boys flute band (Fb). The mural shown above was painted by Daniela Balmaverde (web) with help from local volunteers and presents imagery from non-Western cultures along with slogans on tree-trunks: “Cultural dialogue”, “Celebrate identities”, Shared neighbourhood”, “Community development”, “Tolerance”, and “Respect cultural diversity”. Welcome to Ballynafeigh.

The mural is at the southern Ormeau Road entrance to Ormeau park opposite Candahar Street. The Brigada Romona Para mural was previously in this spot.

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‘The Glory Continues’ Continues

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Martin O’Neill took Celtic – and about 80,000 fans (ESPN) – to the UEFA Cup in 2003, losing in extra time to FC Porto of Portugal. This mural off Friendly Street in the Markets – which shows the Champions Cup rather than the UEFA Cup – is still rolling in 2022. Peter Moloney took a picture of it in 2006.

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In The Paint

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‘Peace Players’ is an organisation that runs cross-community sporting events, including the basketball “interface league” that Noah Donohoe took part in – he is pictured here wearing his Peace Players shirt. It renamed one of its annual awards as the ‘Noah Donohoe Spirit Award’ (tw). He also played U-14 basketball at Belfast Phoenix (Fb) and the club created a scholarship in his name (Belfast Media). The mural is at the Shaftesbury rec centre in lower Ormeau.

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Leaving Belfast

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The Ballyhackamore mural by Ed Hicks (ig) – painted along with murals by emic and Alana McDowell – is on the eastern side of Eastleigh Crescent, so that when looking at it the viewer is looking away from the city and towards the … hills – perhaps Scrabo country park.

Previously by Hicks in east Belfast: California Dreamin’

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Between The Lines

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Here are five images from Duncairn Gardens, along the “peace” lines separating the New Lodge and Tigers Bay, in particular of a Noah Donohoe mural (below) and a pallet hut erected on the pavement (above) at the old Adam Street and site of the bonfire that was removed in 2021 – see Move At Your Own Risk.

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The Great Pumpkin Loves You

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The cult of the Great Pumpkin seems to be spreading from the US but it’s not clear that in fact the Great Pumpkin loves unconditionally: in the Peanuts universe, Linus believes that on Halloween night the Great Pumpkin rises from the pumpkin patch and delivers toys to good and believing children (Peanuts wiki). Paste-up in Belfast city centre.

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Dance Addiction

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The arrow of the Dance Addiction (Fb) mural points to a cat in the grass (above) and/or to Parkgate Avenue Gospel Hall (below).

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Whitehead Temperance

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Benjamin West painted The Battle Of The Boyne in 1778 and his composition – with William moving from left to right on a white horse and Marshal Schomberg dying in the bottom-right corner – has become the standard representation in loyalist culture, perhaps due to versions of it appearing on the covers of songbooks for the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys soon after (Belinda Loftus 1982 Images In Conflict). It appears here on the wall of Whitehead Orange Hall, along with a board connecting service by Irish soldiers in British forces in WWI and Afghanistan (see previously: Time Changes in east Belfast).

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