Culture Night Belfast 2025 – Royal Avenue

Culture Night Belfast returned after a three-year hiatus and included a paint-jam in three locations: on junction boxes (and one doorway) in Royal Avenue (this page), on a hoarding in Garfield Street, and on shutters (and one junction box) in North Street.

The artist of the first box is unknown; the other pieces are by ?Rob Hilken (web)?, Danni Simpson (web), and Karl Fenz (web).

Other new/recent painted boxes in Royal Ave, but perhaps not part of CNB:

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The End Is Nai

Here is a selection of paste-ups on the hoardings around the War Memorial building in Waring Street, inspired by Leo Boyd’s attempt to create an unofficial paste-up wall. (See Paste No Paste-Ups.)

The piece above relies on two homophones, “nai” (“now” in a strong Belfast accent) and “nigh”, and, “sigh” and “scythe”.

In addition to pieces by Boyd (web), there are works by Lazer Eyes (web) (“In the gears, the machine”), Codo (ig) (“Every test is a lesson; every lesson is a blessing”), Szu Szu Sign Co (ig) (“There will never be a border between us”), Dragos (ig) (Imagine Balkans creatures), and RickyDrewAPiccy (Fb) “The End Is Nai” and “Cranes – they’re everywhere. She’s got cranes on her walls … now she’s got cranes in her soul.”

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What’s The Quack?

This is a second gallery of just some of the electrical boxes that have been painted in Newry in recent years, particularly 2024’s ‘Street Dreams’ initiative (web). (See previously Street Dreams.)

“What’s the quack?” and “Pure Class” are by Visual Waste (web), the boat made of harp and fiddle is by JMK (ig), the purple face, the covered wagon, and the draft-horse are by Friz (web), “looking at the stars” and “Queer to stay” are by FrankieB (ig), “Oh happy day” is related to the Choir Studio (Fb), and the boombox is by Aoife Gorman (ig).

For even more boxes, see Amplified NI (ig).

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I Get Knocked Down

Latharna House – the last remaining of three tower-blocks in Larne – is still standing, despite plans to demolish it in 2022 (Belfast Live) and in 2024 (NI World) and in 2025 (NI World). While awaiting its ultimate demise, it serves as a canvas for writers (including AKSEL and ANCO) and an advertising hoarding for the recent Hit The Coast festival – full gallery here.

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