“You are now entering Free Derry.” The first writing on the wall; the first mural of the Troubles. Painted in 1969, these six words of graffiti would spur a movement across each of the six counties of Northern Island, splashing territorial art on innumerable streets – “a canvas on every corner”.
Today, there are estimated to be over 2,000 murals in Belfast and Londonderry alone. Visually documenting the regions’ turbulent history, these murals also demonstrate the psychological power of propaganda art.One of the most famous of the images to come out of the Irish conflict is the Shankill Mona Lisa, commissioned by the Ulster Freedom Force. It shows a balaclava-clad paramilitary soldier flanked by insignia. Pointing the barrel of the gun outwards, the rifle of the soldier seems to follow you as you walk around it.
While seemingly intended to intimidate their enemies with an implied threat, this oftenviolent imagery also had the purpose of instilling fear and compliance at the ‘home turf’. As Professor Bill Rolston says, these murals were as much “directed inwards at communities” as they were directed towards their adversaries.
In both the LoyalistProtestant and RepublicanCatholic communities, kneecappings and punishment-beatings were regular occurrences. Employed against petty criminals for supposedly sowing social discord, they were also used as a means for exacting private revenge and for demonstrating authority.
In republican areas, there was more of a propaganda dimension to the murals. Whether with good reason or not, republicans in Northern Ireland are able to link their experiences with the struggles of oppressed peoples around the world much more easily. As you walk through Belfast, you would not be unlikely to see murals in solidarity with Palestinians, Basques or Aboriginal Australians.
In that sense there are perhaps three classes of murals: those seeking to propagandise with images of violence, those with images of solidarity, and those with images of history. In the latter camp are paintings designed for everyone, regardless of their differences, to be able to celebrate – paintings of C. S. Lewis and George Best, to name but two.
Psychological studies have shown, however, that pictures of firearms can elicit aggression. In the era of the post-Good Friday Agreement, many people are therefore calling for the painting-over of some of the murals. In a time of peace, they say, images of violence and death looming over people’s heads will do nothing but continue to breed the hostility and anxiety of war. It seems that whether by the combatant or the civilian, the potential power and influence of the mural is clear and understood.
