We should say that this is an ugly piece of street art, so that its beauty does not attract the evil eye. The model in this new street art for HTN24, painted by Jordanian artist Yazan Mesmar (ig), is holding an amulet in order to protect herself.
The piece replaces one by emic (see The Bird Flew In, Minds Went In) in Farnham Street.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T04660 T04658 [T04659] bedouin Abu-Rabia Folklore Dec., 2005
“Silence falls in the hole on the hedges, in half-/Opened windows. Tall hollow chimneys wide/Alleyways the seconds before the last school/bell before summer.//Joy is found in one place/Where roses bloom/Bees return once more/Dogs wag their tails/Children waiting patiently in the ice-cream line/Here in Botanic Gardens.” – Nandi Jola.
Jola (ig) is a South-African-born poet and story-teller who moved to Northern Ireland when she was 21 (Belonging Project | Flood).
Collingwood Avenue, Holylands, south Belfast.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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“Ulster is ours”, says James Craig, first prime minister of Northern Ireland, in (a reproduction of) an election poster from c. 1940 (according to Whyte’s). If it is for his own seat in North Down, for Stormont – rather than a poster for the Ulster Unionist candidates in by-elections – it might be from 1938 (WP).
Rockview Street, Village, south Belfast. There are/have been other vintage posters reproduced in the Village – see previously: The Red Hand And The Winning Hand. Also from the Village is a current board employing the phrase “We have what we hold”.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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This is a piece of commercial street art painted at the corner of Marlborough Avenue and Lisburn Road on the wall of the Juice Jar (ig) by Visual Waste (ig). It uses the character of ‘the joker’ as played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008); his catch-phrase “Why so serious?” has become “Why so juicy?”
See previously: the joker and catwoman in the city centre.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Ormeau bridge (Street View) is a stone arch bridge between the Ormeau and Stranmillis embankments of the Lagan river, designed by Charles Lanyon and opened in 1863.
This mural of the bridge is by London artist DanK (ig), commissioned by the Lower Ormeau Traders’ Association using a Vibrant Business Destinations grant from the Council, funded by the Department For Communities ‘Revitalisation’ programme (of these, only Vibrant Businesses (web) appears to have an on-line presence). The mural will be officially launched today (Saturday March 16th) as part of a Spring Festival between noon and three. (Belfast Media)
In University Street, south Belfast, looking away from the bridge.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Sinn Féın leaders Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill intend to travel to the USA for St Patrick’s Day, despite US support for Israel in its sustained attack on Gaza (Indo). The SDLP has said that it will not travel to the White House (Bel Tel). Sinn Féın say they will use the trip to promote business opportunities in Northern Ireland. The Taoıseach will also be in DC, while the Tánaıste will be in Vancouver (Breaking News).
These posters are in west and south Belfast, from https://socialistdemocracy.org/ and the Socialist Party (NI) (web).
“No handshakes from Stormont for Genocide Joe. Take action against genocide in Gaza. Boycott the White House. Expel the Israeli ambassador.”
“Don’t look away. 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza. End the genocide.”
“Boycott genocide Joe. No greenwash at the White House. Leo/Mıcheál/Mary Lou stay away from St Patrick’s Day celebrations! Solidarity with Palestine.”
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Here are three of the murals painted in Botanic Gardens for the Belfast mela – an Artsekta (web) project – which includes a festival of colours or “holi”.
See also: What I Have Witnessed In Botanic Gardens.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Patrick O’Connor was born on this day in 1924 on the lower Falls but after his father emigrated he spent his early years – until age 5 – with his grandparents in East Street in the Markets. It was as a high-schooler in New York that he adopted the name Pádraıc Fıacc (“fiach dubh” is “raven”) and began writing poetry. He settled in Glengormley upon his second and final return; it is not clear that he ever saw East Street lined with British Army soldiers, as shown in the mural above. He wrote of his early life in ‘First Movement’:
Low clouds, yellow in a mist wind
Sift on far-off Ards
Drift hazily …
I was born on such a morning
Smelling of the bone yards
The smoking chimneys over the slate top roofs
The wayward storm birds
And to the east where morning is, the sea
And to the west where evening is, the sea
Threatening with danger
And it would always darken suddenly
Some of Fıacc’s poems are in the TroublesArchive. He was interviewed by NVTv’s Bernard Conlon (Vimeo); he also appears in a reception in Belfast City Hall (youtube).
Lower Stanfield St, Markets, south Belfast
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Here is a 2014 mural in the Markets area of south Belfast celebrating the achievements of local boy George McMullen, who played youth football for St. Malachy’s and St. Matthew’s before joining Cliftonville in 2011 age 20.
On the left is the familiar Cliftonville huddle (see previously: The Red Army). The two poses in the centre and on the left are reproductions of Belfast Telegraph images. The first is from Cliftonville’s 2013 Dankse Bank Irish League-clinching win over Linfield, which the Reds won with a McMullen penalty in the dying seconds; the second in from the same moment in the 2014 campaign: Chris Curran has just scored to put the Reds two-nil up in a game against Portadown that would win them the League for the second year in succession.
Other Cliftonville players have been featured in murals: Joe The Goal in Ardyone and Rory Donnelly in the Bone.
Lower Stanfield St, Markets, south Belfast
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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“Free Palestine”. Tears of blood flow from a face that is shrouded by a Palestinian flag and behind barbed wire. The writing at the bottom is a quote from Malcolm X: “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the oppressor.”
Lower Stanfield St, Markets, south Belfast. Almost a decade old – this mural was launched 2014-07-29.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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