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Thread: Political Murals of Northern Ireland

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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Default Political Murals of Northern Ireland

    Although this has a political component I put it here as it is related to aesthetics.

    Political Murals of Northern Ireland



    There is a rich tradition on both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland of painting political murals. As far as I am aware, prior the Troubles, some murals did exist, usually depicting William of Orange (e), but since 1969 there have been several thousand painted by artists on both sides of the community. These murals are generally, though not exclusively on the gable ends of houses, in working class areas of the main cities. Although murals can be seen elsewhere the majority exist in these locales. They deal with a variety of themes, generally related to the sociopolitical identity of the local community. Some commemorate fallen comrades (a), some celebrate paramilitary factions (b), others mark historic events, others still, especially in more recent years celebrate the local culture in non-divisive ways by emphasising mythology, community progress etc.

    a)


    b)


    The murals typically include some of the iconography associated with one or other of the communities but sometimes incorporate pop cultural references. Murals have been documented that have incorporated Eddie the Iron Maiden mascot, Bart Simpson and other cartoon characters(d).

    d)

    One of the main differences between Loyalist/Unionist murals and Republican/Nationalist ones is that the latter are often willfully multicultural, depicting solidarity with other national struggles throughout the world (d). This internationalist approach is a legacy of Irish radical Republicanism's traditional left wing ethos and international support base. Murals have been painted that include statements of support for Palestine, the Basque Country, FARC in Colombia, Cuba, and other left-wing national struggles. In recent years, as the violence has subsided more and more of these murals display political commentary on the international scene. Those Loyalist/Unionist murals that look abroad tend to look to the Ulster-Scots elsewhere, in Scotland or America (e). For example, a number of murals portray American Presidents of Ulster-Scots heritage, of which there are quite a few.

    d)


    e)


    Talking purely about aesthetics some are beautifully done, using either graphic design style work or just a nice attention to detail (f). While many seem the competent work of trained or practiced painters others are quite folksy are badly drawn. Some are cartoonish or kitsch in an unintended way (g). The menace or gravitas of some murals is deflated by the amateurishness of the rendition.

    f)

    g)

    Some murals are done with humorous intent albeit a political underpinning and are often blackly comic (g). Indeed some subvert the ideas and ideals of the communities for other purposes in a humorous way (h).

    g)

    h)

    Because of the situation in Northern Ireland there are a number of murals that lionise convicted murderers, in the mural below (i) "His only crime was loyalty" would more accurately read "His only crime was murdering people at a funeral."

    i)

    Not all murals are overtly divisive in a political sense, many, especially recent ones describe events in Northern Irish and wider world history such as the Titanic (j)which was constructed in the Belfast shipyards. Some murals convey commentary on contemporary international events such as the Iraq invasion of 2003 (k).

    j)

    k)


    These type of murals by and large don't exist in the Republic of Ireland, nor to the best of my knowledge in Britain. I have heard that in some Irish communities like South Boston in the US you can see some of these murals. There is a mini-industry in Northern Ireland currently of mural tourism. You can get a taxi tour or view them from a tour bus. I recommend such a tour to a visitor to Belfast or Derry. As well as being safer, many of these murals are in quite rundown areas of cities, the driver can also provide a context for the murals.

    If anyone has any questions on any of the murals depicted here I'll try my best to answer them. To view more murals please visit this site: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/mccormick/

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    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    These are fascinating. My first real exposure to the murals of Ireland was Anthony Bourdain's show there. One observation he made about them was that murals in Catholic neighborhoods tended to be more positive, with things like smiling memorials to Bobby Sands, while those in Protestant neighborhoods tended more to paintings of menacing guys in fatigues and balaclavas. Was this a valid observation, or is Tony completely off?
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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    As I explained above there is an ideological underpinning to the Republicans that means they are more likely to paint internationalist, historical interest murals. Radical Unionist/Loyalists don't have the same semiotics, and are more apt to rely on paramilitary symbols. Also there is the "Siege Mentality" that many Protestant neighbourhoods have. While many Catholic areas now are interesting places to visit as a tourist because of these bright colourful murals, many Protestant areas are unwelcoming to strangers. Bourdain is more or less correct although menacing murals exist in both communities. I am probably a tad biased but generally speaking Republicanism can be inclusive while Loyalism/Unionism tends toward the exclusive. Many of the facets of Protestant culture in Northern Ireland are quite vociferously and deliberately about domination of Catholics. Groups such as the Orange Order cannot and will not have Catholic members whereas even the IRA had some Protestant members.




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    like Gandalf in a way Nrblex's avatar
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    Okay, I'm stupid. Why is there a siege mentality? Are bad things still going on there or what?

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    aka ivan the not-quite-as-terrible ivan astikov's avatar
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    The scary thing is, none of these murals would have appeared, had 'ordinary' people with access to guns not allowed it. All these paintings stem from an unhealthy fascination with the past and a dissonant relationship to the present.

    I just wish some of the artistic merit displayed in AG's photo's was put to more positive use.

    (I liked the MLK one, particularly, in that respect.)

    ps. i) could have used a younger picture of Michael Stone.
    Last edited by ivan astikov; 05 Apr 2010 at 10:00 AM.
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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Quote Originally posted by Nrblex View post
    Okay, I'm stupid. Why is there a siege mentality? Are bad things still going on there or what?
    This is a complex enough issue but it stems from the fact that the main body of the Protestant population were relative late comers to this island. Plantations in the 17th Century of Scots and English settlers were used as a bulwark against the restless, rebellious Gaelic Catholic natives. The siege of Derry was a formative event in the history of the Protestant people of Northern Ireland. The siege mentality is partly down to the idea that somehow the Gaelic Catholic population, who on the island as a whole are a majority, will subsume and destroy the Protestant population and culture.

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    Free Exy Cluricaun's avatar
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    Are the murals done legally, or are they more in the concept of graffiti, where someone just picks a ripe looking site to put one? I'd think that based on the level of detail that they're done with the allowance of the building owner since they look like they take a while, but it's a curious thing, since if it's done with the approval of the owner it would seem to make that building then a target.

    Also, I want one of those Sniper at Work signs.
    Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.

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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Most of the ones on gable ends of houses are in council estates, that is, social housing, "projects" as they might call them in the US. The people who painted them don't generally own the houses, the state does. A lot of the more professional looking ones, in other areas seem to be painted legally but I can't say that for certain. These murals don't make homes a target because they exist in staunchly one or the other communities.

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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    This is really fascinating, AG. Thanks for putting it together.

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    Sophmoric Existentialist
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    Northern Ireland is littered with kinfolk of mine. All Protestant and all loud, bigoted, and nasty. One branch of the clan came to Canada about 25 years ago and we had to jump on them pretty hard to make them understand that in Canada we just don't have that crap. We used to, though. The Orange Lodge was pretty influential in Ontario politics. Maybe it still is, out of the big cities.
    Sophmoric Existentialist

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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Attn: Jim


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    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    Hey, you can't have him! He was Dutch! :Shake:
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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    His mother was Irishish.

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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    I'm just back from a trip to Belfast and I did an open top bus tour that included some of the murals above, along with other ones. They were busy repainting some of them when I was there.
    I thought this one was kinda funny, quaint but many of them were extremely intimidating to an outsider (especially being a nominal Catholic and all).


    It is marching season so many streets and homes were emblazoned with red, white and blue, Union Jacks, and some even had paramilitary flags.

    There was also a Confederate flag flying in one Loyalist area.

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    Back in grad school in a course on "the city as material culture" (eek) one of our texts was Bill Rolston's "Politics and Painting: Murals and Conflict in Northern Ireland." Terribly interesting topic.

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    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Oh yeah I have one of Rolston's books. I think my sister had his as a lecturer one time too. It is extremely interesting as it is so particular. You don't see murals like this in the Republic at all, the whole pageantry, the mix of traditions and iconography in a clear visual way are fascinating. Related to the above are Orange marches, and it is currently marching season. There isn't all that much of a Republican analogue to Orange marches though.

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    This Anthony Bourdain clip has a bit about the murals.

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    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Just bumping this excellent and informative thread.
    This is a subject I never knew anything about.

    As far as Teddy, we shared him the world anyway. He was one of the most popular US Presidents with the World.

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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Yeah, this is a really great, informative thread. The inclusion of American public figures (Teddy Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., George W. Bush) surprised me a bit.
    So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.

  20. #20
    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Well MLK and the black civil rights movement in America was the template for the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, which used similar tactics to try to extract full civil rights for Catholics. http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?...5233931635353#

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