Belfast

More Than Machinery

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The portrait shows Chaplin dressed in the clothes of the barber but the words are spoken when he is dressed in the clothes of the other character he played in The Great Dictator (1940), Adenoid Hynkel, the Phooey Of Tomainia:

“We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in.
Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little.
More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.”
(youtube)

Painted by Glen Molloy (ig) in Seymour Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Allowed To Dream, We Learn To Fly

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The Windsor Women’s Centre (web | Fb) provides day-care and educational services for women in the Village, south Belfast. In the mural around the building children are depicted playing at various jobs: the mac on the “lollipop lady” (at a school crossing) is too large, the nurse is listening to the heart-beat of a teddy-bear.

On the other side of the centre from the expression of thanks for the NHS in Together We Are Stronger.

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Together We Are Stronger

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“Thank you NHS & key workers” – this is a Covid-era wall-painting in the Village, south Belfast, illustrating togetherness with a heart of interlocking jigsaw pieces and a rainbow of various colours.

Kilburn Street, replacing Women Too (whose title can still be seen in the eave above this painting), and on the other side of the Women’s Centre from Allowed To Dream, We Learn To Fly.

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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England Get Out Of Ireland

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Irish-language rappers and provocateurs Kneecap (web | ig) unveiled another mural in Hawthorn Street yesterday afternoon ahead of their Falls Park gig last night.

The entry on last year’s mural (Níl Fáılte Roımh An RUC), Incendiary Device, included a shot of the sticker that has been turned into this year’s mural. The sticker, in turn, is based on a vintage mural painted in Strabane (England Get Out Of Ireland) and Belfast (Stad Maggie Anoıs).

Replaces the large GAA board.

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Long Live The King

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Here are two portraits of the recently crowned King Charles III in east Belfast. The image at the centre of the lower board is the standard one we have seen many times; the one above, however, appears to reproduce a slightly stylised painting or graphic.

For another unusual image of King Charles, next to King William III, see Faith, Blood, Service, Sacrifice.

Lendrick Street and The Mount.

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Full Spectrum

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Here are five pieces of street art by Glen Molloy (ig) at Clarawood flats. The first three are new; the pair following is from earlier this year (Jan and Feb). The artist of the sixth piece is unknown. The seventh piece is by “The Spermer” (web) from 2020 and already in some disrepair – it was painted at the same time as Glen’s spitfire, shown last.

Demolition of the two blocks of flats was approved by the Housing Executive in May 2021 (Belfast Live) and by the Department Of Communities in September 2021 (Belfast Live). Demolition of Kilbroney is scheduled for the autumn and Clarawood (the tower block) for 2024 (Irish News).

(See also the Housing Executive’s ‘Action Plan’ for all tower blocks (pdf).)

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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