Conference Proceedings 2010 [pdf] - Art & Design Symposium ...

The virtually dormant Irish Republican Army (IRA) split into two factions, encouraged by certain politicians and
others in the Republic. The more volatile Provisional IRA achieved a support base among the North’s
nationalist population. This partly resulted from indiscriminate security measures like internment and a blunt
use of the British Army by the N. Ireland state. The Provisionals launched a crude campaign of violence
(“armed struggle”) that became protracted and increasingly sophisticated, lasting until their ceasefires in the
mid-1990s.
The British and Irish governments grew closer from the mid-1980s, developing a strong intergovernmental
relationship. This was a catalyst for change. Irish America engaged Bill Clinton. He delivered on promises and
deployed Senator George Mitchell. The eventual outcome of all this was the 1998 Belfast Agreement – also
known as the Good Friday Agreement.
The Agreement has led to a dramatic reduction of violence and a transformed political climate, albeit one still
volatile and “transitional.”
This then, very roughly and broadly is the historical and political context for N. Ireland’s famed political art or
mural tradition. The murals were conflict by another name. This cultural – artistic tradition and movement has
nonetheless been influenced by the peace process and agreement.
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The Mural of the Political Art Story
Northern Ireland has enjoyed more than a decade of relative peace. Combined with a buoyant economy
during the same period and other striking changes, a high level of normality has been experienced.
The mural tradition originated in the early part of the Twentieth Century among urban artisans with a staunchly
British and protestant identity. King William of Orange’s victory in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 has been
commemorated for a long time by this community. When the Northern Ireland state was created this form of
commemoration and celebration became ever more outward and elaborate, while celebration of Irish identity
and culture became introverted and covert.
When violence erupted in the late 1960’s there was the inevitable spate of crude political graffiti. When
violence became more systemic, propaganda and psychological dimensions came into play. However, it was
not until after the 1981 Hunger Strike, when ten republicans died, that republican murals really took off. They
did so with vengeance and variety, invoking a sense of history based on popular perception, mythology and
folk memory, which aimed to mobilize support for “armed struggle.” When republicans entered politics murals
were also mobilized for electioneering purposes.
Pro-British murals meanwhile, as the troubles progressed, migrated from the image of King Billy to a focus on
“inanimate” flags, emblems and other symbols, as well as increasingly graphic presentation of paramilitary
imagery. They even eventually hijacked some of the myths and legendary characters from the nationalist
wardrobe (closet).
University of Ulster sociologist, Bill Rolston provides accessible and useful documentation in his series of
booklets: Drawing Support (Rolston, 1992). Mainly photographs, his short introductory texts nonetheless
provide a starting-point for understanding the mural tradition.
Murals, a book by the Bogside Artists, shows how the mural tradition interfaces with mainstream art and
exhibition (Blogside Artists, 2001). It also catalogues Derry’s (also known as Londonderry) main nationalist
murals, which these “artists” mainly painted. Such narratives amply show the evolution of political art and the
emergence and the development of the artists coming from the mural mould.
The Belfast mural artist partnership of Danny Devenny and Mark Irvine is generating growing interest (D.
Devenny, personal communication, 2009). Coming from the opposite spectrum of the political divide, one of
their recent commissions was to paint a portrait of John Lennon on a Liverpool wall in the context of Liverpool’s
year as a European City of Culture.
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