In Belfast, the walls don't speak, they scream!
Belfast, in Northern Ireland, is a city which is still divided by walls, even behind all those pretty colours.
What was for some time a civil war zone is now pretty much quiet, except the occasional assassination and bomb scares. However, now, if you want really to understand the conflict, you can do it by touring all the murals. And there are many. Basically, there are three types.
The pro-Ireland ones
These are the ones in remembrance of actions and persons who have worked for reuniting the northern part of Ireland to the ROI (Republic Of Ireland).
These three men were part of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. They were captured, and sentenced to death after attacking a transport van of the police transporting two chiefs of their organization. One officer was killed in the action.
Bobby Sands, is it really necessary to introduce him? Died in the Maze's Prison in 1981 after a 66 days hunger strike.
Three IRA volunteers who died in action. The four shields represent the four "regions" of Ireland (from left to right : Connacht, Ulster, Leinster, Munster).
This one takes a shot at the collusion between the paramilitaries of the UVF and the Ulster government.
The Loyalists ones
These are the ones of the Protestant side, the paramilitaries of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) for example, who often worked in conjunction with the forces of Her Royal Majesty to quash the "freedom fighters" of Sinn Feinn.
The Queen is of course the sign that we are in a Protestant/Loyalist district. Attachment to the "moterland" by attachment to the "queen mother".
William III Prince of Orange is an important figure for the loyalists. He was Dutch, but invited by the Parliament to rule over England, as a Protestant monarch. However, he had to face James II, the Catholic pretendant. William III beat James II in Ireland, at the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, to definitely cement his place and his right and make Ireland a sure part of his kingdom.
This is as straightforward as it can be. Note the Latin motto: "Quis Separabit". We stay separated (from ROI).
A mural commemorating the UVF militants fallen in combat.
The International Ones
Since the conflict is now more or less over, Belfast is quiet, but remains in the mind of everyone as a place where you could die for walking on the wrong side of the road, or for offering a cigarette to a British soldier (and then being accused of collusion with the enemy). So, it has become a sort of memorial to all the other conflicts in the world which are still raging and a place where they can express their hopes and their rage.
Frederick Douglass was one of the most influential among the first intellectual Afro-American. As recalled by this mural, he was inspired by 2 Irishmen to escape slavery and seek justice and dignity in the USA.
Pablo Picasso's GUERNICA belongs to all the walls in the world.
The Palestinian cause is of course present as well. Note the key the children hold: it's the key to the home they had to leave behind after the Nakba, a recurrent motif in the diaspora story of the Palestinians.
Hi herverisson!
I'm from Belfast - interesting to see this from an outsider's perspective. Did you take the mural tour? But there's so much more to the city: I hope you got to see some of the other stuff!
Hi Martin! Actually no, I wandered around Belfast on my own. I lived one year there so I had time enough to collect all of this. And yes, I could see quite a lot of stuff, in and around Belfast, like Cavehill, etc. I really liked my time other there.
Nice post! The murals in Belfast are amazing. I visited it about 20 years ago and really enjoyed the people. The divisions are sad, but you're right that the art makes the walls a lot better.
When someone builds a wall, it's always an opportunity to artists to publish messages :) But now unfortunately, we only look at our Facebook "wall" :)