RSS newsfeed
Murals
New Belfast’s commitment to using murals as a positive community led process
Belfast is synonymous across the world for its many murals, both political and community based. New Belfast Community Arts Initiative aims to re-establish the art of mural making as a positive tool within Belfast and Northern Ireland, creating murals with ‘Shared Space’ as the guiding principle.
Community involvement plays a key role in mural making. Participants are given a visual voice to highlight concerns over issues which are close to their communities’ heart.
New Belfast’s mural projects do not wish to undermine the art of existing murals nor does it intend to superficially whitewash over long-standing issues, instead it aims to strive towards the narrowing of division within the political divide and highlight the common denominators running through our communities.
Selected groups, with the close guidance of New Belfast and allocated artists, create individual pieces of work pertinent to its location, its community-audience and issues of importance to that community. This transfer of creative skills, constructive dialogue and involvement in the creative process leads to a better understanding of murals as positive tool, encouraging forward thinking and shared outlook for the future of Belfast.
New Belfast’s innovative approach of working with communities on participant-led mural projects was successfully introduced in 2004 with the Mural Festival. A similar approach was adopted by ACNI’s Re-Imaging Communities Programme. Within the framework of this programme, New Belfast’s Director Conor Shields conducted a feasibility study for Belfast City Council which resulted in the production of a series of community-led public art works across Belfast, informed by the Shared Future’s values.
To view a selection of past projects visit the Mural Gallery