By Lauren Kennedy, Danish Institute for Study Abroad, spring 2015
In the past, Street art was thought to be vandalizing and a negative form of graffiti. However, it has developed a stronger reputation for itself and has turned into an art form.
After visiting The Peoples Gallery in the Bogside in Derry, Northern Ireland the artists prove that graffiti can be more than words written on a wall. The Peoples Gallery contains twelve murals that each depict an event or struggle that occurred during the era of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, in the late 1960’s.
This conflict was primarily a political and an ethnic issue. The problem was that the Unionist/Loyalists, who are predominantly Protestant, had built a society that discriminated against Catholics, most commonly supporting the Irish Nationalists/Republicans. While the unionist saw Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom the latter in general wanted Ireland to leave the UK to be reunited with Ireland.
This led to widespred violence between the tho groups lasting over three decades and immensely affecting the relationship between the two communities.
The Bogside artists have today depicted, from photographs, the most authentic renditions of the events that occurred during the Troubles in their neighborhood in Derry, a traditional catholic town, creating a street of murals: “We paint what we think is important”, explained one of the Bogside artists; Tom Kelly.
One of their most impressive murals was however the result of the general need to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Battle of the Bogside. The image that I selected is titled, “The Death of Innocence.” The twenty-six by twenty-eight foot painting depicts a fourteen-year-old girl, Annette McGavigan, caught in a cross-fire between the IRA and the British army on September 7th, 1971.
Annette was sent out by her teacher originally to gather colored rocks for an art project she was assigned at school when the crossfire occurred. During that time a British soldier shot Annette in the back of her head. She died in her school uniform, which is why she is wearing it in the mural.
The uniform represents all the Irish children who died, both Protestants and Catholics. The image of Annette, in the mural, is contrasted with a dark background and I believe that it was supposed to be reminiscent of the bomb explosion. Annette, in fact, is the cousin of one of the artists, Kevin, and it was the only mural that the three artists created that was left unfinished. They thought it could not be finished because they felt it was the only mural that they could not see any possibility of reconciliation and peace in.
The butterfly and the broken gun
In 1997, the artists went back to the mural, as did the entire community, and Annette’s family to watch the three artists finish the mural by breaking the gun in half and finishing the butterfly color. The butterfly is a symbol of transformation, and I believe that the butterfly also depicts the colorful energy and playfulness of the children in Derry. And when considering the broken gun I believe that it sends the message that no child should ever be killed by gunshot nor have a family suffer from losing a child at a young age. By having the community to come together to watch this mural finally being finished created an overwhelming feeling of peace, according to the artists.
These murals display a form of “graffiti” that are neither intrusive nor offensive. They tell real stories that occurred during “The Troubles” and commemorate those who lost their lives.
It gives the community comfort and peace that those people are recognized and will never be forgotten. And some would say that these twelve murals have become a cleansing experience for Northern Ireland as a whole, and a visual documentation that tells the story of fourty years of conflict.
In my analysis of the murals, I believe they support the Derry community and help them obtain closure concerning the events that happened. They can be proud of those who lost their lives and are able to mourn their loss in a creative yet honorable matter.
Read more here:
http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/blog/interview-with-mural-artists-the-bogside-artists/
http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/bogsideartists/technique/mcgavigan.htm
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