Author Archives: Mary C

four Batmans and an old man’s bird

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Close to the intersection of Dhirar Bin Al-Azwar street and Moh’d Al-Shurayqi street are two pieces of street art.  They have nothing in common except their proximity to each other.

First is a bright mural called “Odin” by Suhaib Attar of a bird  on top of an old man’s head.  The feathers on the bird meld into the hair of the man’s beard and moustache.  Is the bird dead or alive?

mural by Suhaib Attar of a bird with grey and black wing feathers, on red circle background

Odin is the bearded one-eyed Norse god of is the god of wisdom, poetry, death, divination, and magic.  He was often accompanied by two wolves and two ravens.

close up of head of bird in mural by Suhaib Attar in grey tones on red background

The other wall features a more modern character, Batman.

on a wall, 4 stencils of Batman, two have him dancing and two have him playing castonettes

Batman stencil, with mustache, upper body

Someone has written “quarter life crisis” on the wall.  I suspect that it has nothing to do with Batman but I rather like the juxtaposition.

Batman stencils on a wall along with words that someone has written, quarterly life crisis

2 green street signs at an intersection in Amman Jordan along with a red and white do not enter sign

faces on Nemr Al-Edwan street

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There are several faces on two murals on different walls, one older and one newer.  First is a series of faces starting with this singing woman in a turban.

a woman in a colourful striped turban, singing with her eyes closed, mural pn a concrete wall, with green tree behind

below: Several of the face were painted by Batool Edris

realistic painting of a woman's face in colur, short hair, light brown eyes, lips are slightly crooked, on a concrete wall, by Batool Edris

below: He has the whole city in his head – or overflowing from his head! (another  two portraits by Batool Edris)

Black and white, grey tones, painting of a man's face in partial profile, on a wall. Can see the city beyond over the top of his forehead

below: Speaking in Arabic

black and white mural of two faces, one at each end, with arabic letters between them

below: On the right is Edris’s portrait of Salvador Dali.  On the other side of the orange gate is a cactus-headed person

The second mural is “Unity in Diversity” painted late in 2018 by @mahahindi_,  Afnan Barqawi, and the Orenda Tribe (with support from the US Embassy).

mural of a line of large faces of different ethnic backgrounds, and colours,

mural of large faces by the Orenda Tribe

mural of large faces of different colours,

three large facecs in a mural, one with orange sunglasses and purple hair, one Asian looking with large black glasses

400ml on two walls

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In the Gueliz part of Marrakech I saw two walls that were painted by 400ml (aka Hicham Bellaghzal).  The first three pictures show the first wall presented from left to right.

“love love love”

mural by 400 ml, right habd side of mural, bly sitting, large red heart beside him, and rays of light coming from his eyes

“When we haven’t what we like we must like what we have.”

middle section of a mural by 400 ml in Marrakech, a boy in black and grey, back turned, against wall of bright reds and blues with words, love, love, love as well as

“Yesterday I really wanted pizza. Today I’m eating pizza.  Follow your dreams.”

mural with Bart Simpson holding a piece of pizza with words, yesterday I really wanted pizza today I am eating pizza follow your dreams

Nearby is another mural.  If I remember correctly, it’s just off Av Hassan II close to the train station.  Again, from left to right.

a small black horse and a face in profile in a mural

Rocco Morocco and a boy chasing a butterfly.   The love equation.

in a mural, an old man with a can and long orange coat with hood walks away, 1 plus one equals a heart

Urgent eyes

mural in sections, one section has two eyes in black and white surrounded by hearts in red and blue

in a mural, an old man with a can and long grey coat with hood walks away, plus large orange and yellow letters that spell Rocco

Berber man in Marrakech

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Across the street from the train station in Marrakech is this large mural of Aziz the mason, a Berber man in a wool hat. It was painted by German artist Hendrik Beikirch in 2015. Beikirch first worked with spray paint 30 years ago.

traffic passing by including a horse drawn carriage, a gas station on the corner across the street and a large mural of a berber man on a wall. Mural by Heinrich

In 2014 Beirkirch spent some time as an artist in resident at Jardin Rouge, a program sponsored by the Montresso Art Foundation in Marrakech.  The work that he did here became the Tracing Morocco project.   For this project, Beikirch painted 22 portraits of Moroccans he had met; it is meant as a tribute to those whose traditional ways are disappearing.  Not only were portraits printed in a book of the same name, but also they were painted as large murals in different places around the world including the Netherlands and New York City.

face of berber man in mural in Marrakech, part smile, wearing hat, mustache, wrinkled face