painted wall

Votes About Votes

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2014-10-27 CatalanVote+

The 7.5 million people of the Spanish region of Catalonia will go to the polls on November 9th for a vote on independence, though it will no longer be a referendum but a non-binding ‘consultation of the citizens’. Indeed, the Spanish government in the last 24 hours has begun taking steps to block even that vote (Reuters). The “Catalan Countries” are Catalonia, Valenicia, and the Balearic Islands, along with Andorra and the French region of Rousillon – see the WP page on Països Catalans for greater detail.

The Catalan mural was painted on top of the mural to blanketman Kieran Nugent (and Brendan Hughes) (seen here in Belfast’s Infamous Prison) which caused some consternation. As can be seen below, Nugent is now being painted into the hunger-strikers mural (Peace With Justice) along with Mairéad Farrell, who led the protest in Armagh Women’s Prison.

2014-10-27 NugentAddedCrop+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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This Means Nothing

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2014-09-24 CNBEMicLights+

Here’s emic’s (Eoin McGinn, This Means Nothing) main piece for CNB 2014, in (upper) North Street.

Also by emic for CNB14: Lost In The Music. For CNB13: CameraMan. For CNB12: Through The Fog. Previously: Deconstructions | Through The Mists Of Time

2016 Update – the mural is “enhanced” by CASP:

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Across The Wire

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2014-09-28 EndInternm2014+

Here are two images of the barbed wire above the international wall on Divis Street. The first, above, is a banner reading “1971 – End British internment of Irish citizens – 1914”. Below, two flyers name John Paul Wootton (one of the Craigavon 2) and Sean Kelly as “political hostages”. For the mural of the hunger strikers and Frank Stagg quote, see Peace With Justice; for the lower Falls quintet, see 40.

2014-09-28 IntWallJFTC2+

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Hat Trick

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2014-09-06 BarnesDonnelly+

Rory Donnelly is a former Cliftonville player, from Belfast, currently signed to Welsh club Swansea and playing internationally (U-21) for Northern Ireland. As shown here, Donnelly’s hands (like the rest of him – he is 6′ 2″) are long and slender; the problem with the depiction is rather that it appears to show a thumb where his little finger should be – the photograph on which the mural is based (see the last image in this BBC gallery) shows that in fact he is holding down his little finger (with his thumb behind his palm), thus leaving three digits raised in celebration of a hat trick against Dungannon Swifts.

The Paddy Barnes mural to the left was featured previously in Oh! Paddy Boy.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Memorial To The Missing

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2014-08-26 WeRemember+

Canadian physician John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields and the triple arches of the Thiepval memorial to the missing are featured in this Monkstown mural. It is McCrae’s poem that is thought to have given rise to the use of the poppy as a symbol of military remembrance (WP). A close-up of the right-hand side, showing the memorial, is below. The names of over 72,000 dead are inscribed on the memorial (WP | travelfranceonline).

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row/That mark our place; and in the sky/The larks, still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below.//We are the Dead. Short days ago/We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,/Loved and were loved, and now we lie/In Flanders fields//Take up our quarrel with the foe:/To you from failing hands we throw/The torch; be yours to hold it high./If ye break faith with us who die/We shall not sleep/Though poppies grow/In Flanders fields.”

2014-08-26 WeRememberDetail+

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Sleep Sweetly

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2014-09-26 CNBInkieSallyDetail+

Street art from London-based artist Inkie (Fb), at the back of the Sunflower Bar, similar to Boogie Down Belfast but dedicated to the memory of a deceased friend, Sally Tutton.

See also: last year’s Lost Soul.

2014-09-26 CNBInkieSally+

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It’s A Jungle Out There

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2014-09-24 CNBTwitchLion+

The king of the jungle is wearing a wide-brimmed purple fedora, in the middle of a long, three shop-front piece by Twitch (Fb) – wide shot below. The sunflowers are for the Sunflower bar, on the other side of the street.

Previously at the Sunflower: The Men Who Stare At Bikes  | No Topless Bathing – Ulster Has Suffered Enough

2014-09-24 CNBTwitchJungle+

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Endoskeleton

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2014-09-27 CNBKrikSix+

Within the exoskeleton there’s a hand, and within the hand, there’s a heart. Work by Kriksix (Fb) for CNB 2014.

In this spot from last year’s CNB: Kilian Redmonk’s Bluelips

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Phantom Queen

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2014-09-24 CNBFrizEve+

The Morrígan (the phantom queen or the great queen) is a character from Irish mythology, appearing prominently in the story of Cú Chulaınn. She takes various forms – crow, cow, wolf, eel, as shown on the right-hand side of the mural above – in addition to appearing as a young and old woman and as a trio of women. (For more info, consult WP.) This is new work by Friz (Web | Fb | Tw) for Culture Night Belfast 2014.

Previous work by Friz

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Fill Up On Colour

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2014-09-21 CNBConzo+

If it’s good enough to paint with, it’s good enough to drink. Two characters colour themselves by drinking paint through straws (the male is “Taps Aff“?, with little Terror Cheb in the corner) – work by Glasgow artist Conzo Throb (web | Fb) on the shutters of the old Tivoli barbers in Lower Garfield Street for Culture Night Belfast 2014.

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