Stencil and graffiti in College Street (in the city centre; the Fountain Centre is visible in the background): “Don’t drone me, bro.” over a stencil of U.S. president Barack Obama. This image was taken the day the leader of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone (Guardian). The Obama administration has launched six times more drone strikes in Pakistan than the Bush administration (WP). For the original phrase ‘Don’t tase me, bro’, see knowyourmeme.
This new pro-Basque mural on the International Wall on Divis Street calls for the release of Arnaldo Otegi, one-time ETA member and leader of a pro-Basque party, along with other political prisoners. (More information on Otegi at arnaldotegi.com and WP.) “Pake bidean” is the Basque for “The pathway to peace”. (The mural is at the eastern end of the wall; takes the place of the Ian Knox anti-racism mural featured in Never Actually Existed.)
Update: Otegi was released in March, 2016 (Irish Times)
“Che Guevara – Blood of an Irish rebel.” A colourful new mural has been completed on the Falls Road (at the end of McQuillan Street) in time for the anniversary of Che Guevara’s death, on October 9th, 1967. The mural features multiple copies of Korda’s iconic Guerillero Heroico (discussed in the Visual History page on Jim Fitzpatrick), two quotes from Che – “When forces of oppression come to maintain themselves in power against established law, peace is considered already broken” and “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine” – and the flags of (from left to right) the Basque Country, Palestine, Ireland, Cuba, Catalonia and Argentina (where Che was born; or perhaps Guatemala, where he was first active – the shield above contains no central icon, which would distinguish the flags).
Che’s father declared that the blood of Irish rebels ran through his son, in reference to their Irish ancestry. For genealogical information, see the previous entry on the Che Guevara Lynch mural in Derry.
The artist is Damian “DeeDee” Walker, of the Gaelforce group. The piece has been in progress for about a month.
A second anti-fascist, and cross-community, piece has gone up on Northumberland Street. This one commemorates the deaths of Dick O’Neill and William Beattie who died fighting the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. O’Neill died at Jarama and Beattie at Brunete, both outside Madrid, in 1937.
As can be seen from the third image, below, the piece is immediately to the right of the Frederick Douglass mural.
A message for the U.S. government on the side of Black Mountain this week, concerning the incarceration of Leonard Peltier for the shooting deaths of two FBI agents in South Dakota (WP). A U.S. flag flies at the top of the lettering, and the scale of the piece can be gauged from the small crowd of people standing off to the left. Below is a straight-on shot and, before that, a view from the corner of the shops at the Springfield/Whiterock junction.
The Israeli flag flies on a fence (along with other flags, not in shot) outside the Eastway social club in Rathcoole. On the wall of the club is a union flag with the letters “CYCFB” standing for “Cloughfern Young Conquerors Flute Band”. The band will next parade in the area on August 17th. The “T” of “Eastway” is the Tennent’s Lager brand.
“”In my country we go to prison first and then become President” – Madiba, Nelson Mandela, freedom lover, friend of Ireland.”
Above is a new mural on Northumberland Street (not on Divis Street’s international wall) in honour of the ailing Nelson Mandela’s 95th birthday, on July 18th. Painted by Lucas Quigley (you can see a signature and a telephone number in the lower right), the mural features Mandela, the flags of Ireland and South Africa, and the Sinn Féin logo (in contrast with the dissident flyers further up to the left, shown on 2013-07-17). Detail below. The photo reproduced is probably this Getty image.
Brigada Ramona Parra (BRP) is the mural-painting wing of the Chilean Communist Party. Some of its members came to Belfast in 2009 and worked with local republican and loyalist muralists to put up this board at the southern entrance to Ormeau Park. The colours are still vibrant, but the board on which the piece was painted is deteriorating significantly. 200 images of the mural being painted can be found here. BelTel report of the launch.
Below: An extra-wide (2500 pixel) straight-on shot and a youtube video of BRP pieces 1968-2011.
“Che” Guevara’s father, also called Ernesto Guevara Lynch, was an Argentinian descended from Patrick Lynch, who emigrated from Galway (in 1742?) and married in Buenos Aries in 1749. (Based on these rodovid pages: one | two | three.) Che’s father is the source of the quote at the bottom of the mural: “In my son’s veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels.”
The Irish inscription, “Thocfadh [Thıocfadh] an réabhlóıdeach a mharú ach ní an réabhlóıd a scríosadh [scrıosadh]”, means (roughly) “It’s possible to kill the revolutionary person but not to destroy the revolution.”
This mural is on Fahan Street in the Bogside, Derry/Doıre.
Here are two more shots of the hillside of Black mountain above the Springfield Road during the G8 summit June 17-18. For more on the ‘Massacre’ mural, see Springhill-Westrock Massacre.
Extramural Activity 