These two murals of five women and five babies at the rear of the Maureen Sheehan health care centre are entering (at least) their eighth year of existence and are showing their wear due to both the natural and human causes, such as graffiti and burning (see previously: A Philosophy of Liberation). For the murals in better condition (in 2010) see M05732 and M05733.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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A history of shipbuilding and its role in Belfast’s industrial life is told in the first five panels of a 13-panel installation along York Road (“The harbour made York Street Belfast’s global gateway”) and in particular its connection with Scotland. (It is sponsored by Discover Ulster Scots.) Two Scots, William Ritchie (whose 1802 portrait by Thomas Robinson is shown) and Charles Connell (who oversaw the construction of the first wooden steamboat in Belfast – Aurora, pictured below) along with another Scot, Alexander MacLaine, were the leading shipbuilders in Belfast from 1791 until the 1860s, when Englishman Edward Harland (soon joined by German Gustav Wolff, and then in 1874 by William Pirrie and Wilson brothers Walter and Alexander) took over the rival Hickson yard (which included land on Queen’s Island and on the south side of the Lagan) and became dominant. Their connection to York Street is that all of them except Pirrie lived on or near York Street.
For potted histories (and a larger picture of Aurora) see LibraryIreland and Ulster-Scots.com.
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“Hasta siempre, Comandante” is a 1956 song celebrating the life of Che Guevara, with Fidel Castro appearing in the final verse to join the Cuban people in saying “Hasta siempre, Comandante” to Che as he departs Cuba for the Simba Rebellion in Congo. The slogan is here applied to Fidel himself on the occasion of his death in November 2016 at the age of 90.
Here is French singer Nathalie Cardone’s version on the song, which reached #2 in France and #1 in Belgium in 1997:
The Castro mural is next to one for fellow Marxist Salvadore Allende of Chile: see La Historia Es Nuestra.
See also Hasta La Victoria Siempre.
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Glen Molloy’s Jack Nicholson takes the place of Jonny McKerr’s Bacchus on the wall of Direct Wine Shipments in Corporation Street.
See the final entry in the series for an overview.
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IRPWA sticker on a road sign in Dalton St (Bridge End), east Belfast.
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Despite the “Work in progress!” tag, this Glen Molloy (ig) mural to the recently deceased Carrie Fisher (in the guise of Princess Leia from Star Wars) didn’t go any further. Fisher died two days after George Michael, to whom Molly also painted a tribute.
Loopland Park, Belfast.
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Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders makes an appearance in an inspirational poster in Garfield St. The connection to the colonel is perhaps that his idea for a fried chicken restaurant was turned down 300 times | Snopes. If you know better, please get in touch.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Children’s drawings of houses complete a mural for the Equality Can’t Wait/Build Homes Now (Fb | web) mural that has remained unfinished for a long time on Northumberland Street – the intermediate stage in the last image below, beneath a lamppost sticker for the campaign.
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“¡Hasta la victoria siempre!” (“Ever onward to victory!”) was a saying of Che Guevara’s. It is used in this mural as a valediction to Che comrade and long-time Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who died at the end of November (2016). The portrait of Castro is perhaps this Korda image of Castro entering Havana after the deposition of Batista in 1959.
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In addition to many paintings in a distinctive style, Belfast artist John Luke’s (one | two) work included a few murals, most famously an image of Belfast’s Charter painted in the City Hall. He lends his name to the gallery in north Belfast’s Arts For All centre which is now fronted by a mural in his style.
For the undead in the windows of the taxi office, see Haunted.
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Extramural Activity 