They’re vivid, political and highly visible – the murals adorning gable ends and walls around Northern Ireland are a marking of territory and a declaration of culture and allegiance. They feature on many a bus or taxi-tour of Belfast, part of the emerging visitor economy. But the powers that be say that any overtly sectarian symbol, violent or not, is off-putting and retrograde, and a project – involving a partnership with local grassroots groups and selected artists, as well as both the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Community Relations bodies – is underway to “re-image” communities.
In Belfast, artist Ray Henshaw worked in the traditionally Republican “Markets” housing estate area, where the problem was not so much offensive artwork as graffiti. But Ray says his initial job was to gain the confidence of the local community, where he predicted that a change of mindset would take time and patience. His plan was to re-establish a sense of history – history predating the “Troubles” period which is so widely seen as encapsulating Northern Ireland’s past. The estate is near the city’s St George’s market, but there were other landmarks being ignored.
“Physically, the Markets looks like any other housing estate in Belfast. So we wanted to re-assert its individuality and promote pride in the area,” says Ray. “There was an abattoir and a cattle mart nearby, and a very profitable scrap-metal business, for example, and once we put out a request for old photos, I loved learning about the history they revealed. It was once a very multi-ethnic area, which is sometimes forgotten. The photos offered up were scanned and printed onto aluminium panels, which have been covered with an anti-graffiti coating before being mounted on walls. Text was added in some parts, and like the traditional murals, there is a variety of scale and intensity of colour.”
Ray also sees his role as ambassadorial in some ways: “I relish the job of demystifying art. It’s not all about putting sharks in tanks, it’s a regular job and I always believed in social interaction. You’re not in an ivory tower.”
Working with groups such as the youth drama group ‘Tir Nan Og’, who concentrated on sport and cultural images, or the residents of a local retirement home for the Chinese community, Ray noticed an increasing artistic confidence, as well as a growing pride in their roots, as six weeks of public workshops drew residents in. Colours became more exuberant and the use of the images more inventive. The Markets community is now talking of producing some more murals in the future, and would again like Ray to be involved.
It’s work that the Arts Council of Northern Ireland sees as both challenging and rewarding – and work which doesn’t appeal to all artists. Director of Arts Development at the Council, Noirín McKinney, says it’s up to communities to choose their artist, but things can still break down over sensitive local issues even after long discussion and negotiation. Projects can be delayed by the need for a consensus, even if the majority of people involved agree with the artist’s vision for their area. “But the process itself is important. The whole impetus is to give communities the ability to project their own image of themselves to the outside world.”
The project is delivered on behalf of the Shared Communities Consortium, which comprises the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the Department for Social Development, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, the International Fund for Ireland, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Community Relations Council and local authorities. Community groups are invited to come up with proposals, as well as local councils, with grants of as much as £50,000 available for the larger projects. With a pot of more than £3m, the scheme also represents a significant opportunity for artists in Northern Ireland.
Inevitably some pictures are still causing controversy – for example, a painting of King William of Orange in place of a “Grim Reaper” mural in a Loyalist area. But Noirín points out that King Billy is very much part of the Orange tradition prevalent in that area, and the picture, in the fine art style, is much better than the sectarian and aggressive image which it replaced. And, she says, the fact that the impetus to cover up the old picture came from within the community, is much more worthy of attention.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland now has the task of taking the “re-imaging” process further, with rural areas – particularly in the West – having slipped through the net so far. However, the work has not been totally confined to Belfast. In County Armagh, 14 villages are coming together in a cross-community initiative which will involve creative writing activities aimed at exploring the common and unique aspects of rural life. Later, each village will plant a juniper tree next to an interpretive panel designed with a professional artist.
And of course, Northern Ireland has been changing in many ways – there is not just an influx of visitors and shoppers, but also a recent wave of immigration, particularly from Eastern Europe. The “reimaging” money is not just aimed at groups living in sectarian interface areas, and it’s hoped that all cultures will eventually find representation through these projects.
Current funding will take the scheme up to the end of March and though organisers are hoping for the money to extend the project for two more years, every application round so far has been over-subscribed. More than a hundred sites have been funded so far. Its success, says Noirin, exemplifies the role of the arts in regeneration. “This isn’t simply about installing public art – it’s about the artist as facilitator, and the role images can play in communities and community relations.” While the brave new Belfast may be heralded by the smart new hotels that have sprung up, the recent progress – both political and economic – is also revealed in the images visitors can see from their hotel windows.
