Author Archives: Mary C

large murals in Al Hashmi Al Shamali

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Most of the murals in this area of Amman were painted as part of one of the annual Baladk Urban Arts Festivals held in collaboration with the Al Balad Theatre.  These festivals started in 2013 – the murals that I saw here were all from 2017 through 2019.

below: In the foreground is a large mural by Fintan Magee. (2018)
three large murals in a row, in the foreground is one of a girl by Finton Magee, the next is an old woman with a red circle in the background and the third is a colourful woman with ribbons by Dina Saadi

below: by Suhaib Attar, 2017

large mural of a woman in black and white and grey tones, with a large red circle behind her head

below: “Reflections” painted by Dubai-based artist  Dina Saadi as part of Baladk 2018

large mural in Amman of a woman looking in a hand held mirror, with hair tied in two buns and lots of colourful ribbons around her head

close up of the head, a woman in profile, in the mural painted by Dina Saadi

below: A portrait of Jordanian artist Suhaib Attar painted by French artist Don Mateo

large mural in Al Hashmi Al Shamali in Amman of a man in black and red

below: This girl with the orange and green is also by Don Mateo.

large murals in Amman

close up of a mural, a girls face, on a wall with two windows, one of the windows has two flower pots

below: Local vocals.  This is not part of Baladk but I couldn’t find any more information on the mural – who painted it or whose portraits these are.

white background, blue paint, mural of a music group with 5 members, part of local vocals

below: From 2019, a blue haired woman by ZiNk aka Ibtehal Al Dous

a turquoise truck is parked on a residential street in Amman beside a mural of woman with blue hair and a purple jacket, she has her eyes closed

below: A large portrait by Hombre, aka Pablo Fontagnier (Baladk 2018)

fontal portrait of a person with short black hair and green eyes

below: “Imagine” by sourati  – Imagine to believe in yourself.  Imagine to step beyond limitations and try something new. (2019)

large mural of a woman wearing a grey top, eyes closed and dreaming of doves, the title is imagine and it was painted by sourati, on the side of a large building in Amman

below: A whimsical drawing by sourati – a man, a woman, and a cat all with their heads sticking out of the roof of their own little houses.

small street art on a concrete wall, whimsical drawings by sourati of people in small houses withtheir heads sticking out of the roofs , a moon in the sky and also a cat sticking its head out of a small house,

below: And last, I am not sure what the word says, but she seems to have a hole where her heart should be.

muddied old mural on a wall around a courtyard, a car parked beside

Suhaib Attar’s women

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Three murals of women seen in Amman that were painted by Suhaib Attar.
First is this multicoloured angel painted in 2014.

woman's head and shoulders on an orange background, mural by Suhaib Attar, woman is in blue, pink, and yellow splotches. She has wings in the same colour

woman's head and shoulders on an orange background, mural by Suhaib Attar, woman is in blue, pink, and yellow splotches. She has wings in the same colour - close up of her face

Second, the car is blocking part of the title, but I think that this one is called “Randa”.  I am not sure who painted the portrait on the left.

two murals of women. on the left is a portrait in blue and white of a woman with long hair. on the right is a Suhaib Attar painting of a woman's face surroundd by stars

And last, because of it’s height above street level, this large mural in central Amman can be seen from a long distance away.  A bright blue canvas for a mural in celebration of World Children’s Day.  The calligraphy was painted by Chaf (Chill as f)

bright blue backkground, on the back of an apartment building, mural, of a woman in blue head scarf, for world children's day, supported by Unicef

folklore on a mannequin

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There is a large mural by Lebanese artist Yazan Halwani covering the side of a building on Nadeem Al Mallah street in Amman.  It was painted in 2016 from a mannequin wearing a folklore type costume.

large black and white and grey mural of a woman in a traditional costume, on the side of bulding, beside a window with pink curtains and a broken pane of glass

Like a lot of Halwani’s work, the design relies on calligraphy & Arabic writing.  It is meant as a statement about the mix of Jordanian and Lebanese cultures.

close up of face in mural of woman by Yazan halwani,

 

aptART gender equality

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In central Amman is a mural of a face that is divided vertically down the middle, half male and half female.  It was painted by Akut (half of Herakut) in 2016.

mural by herakut in Amman, very large face that is divided vertically down the middle, male on one side, female on the other, 4 storeys high, black background, man with beard and small moustache

mural by herakut in Amman, very large face that is divided vertically down the middle, male on one side, female on the other,close up of eyes, nose and mouth

This mural was made with the support of USAid and aptART.  The latter is an acronym for Awareness and Prevention through Art.  In this case, they are highlighting the question of gender equality.   They sponsored four other murals in Amman but unfortunately I don’t have any photos of them (nor did I see them when I was there).

Breaking the Silence

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‘Breaking the Silence’ is a large mural on Arar Street in Amman, Jordan.   Two young women designed and painted this 8 storey mural, Miramar Al Nayyar, and Dalal ­Mitwally

large mural of a woman in grey tones, looking upwards with her eyes closed. It covers the whole of one side of a multi storey building, Arabic writing around her

Red Arabic writing provides a pattern in the background.  The English translation is: “Let your eyes be cast on the mountaintops.”

colours and people on the stairs.

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On Ahmad Bin Hanbal Street, close to where it connects to Prince Muhammad, there is a set of stairs leading upward.  Because Amman is built on a number of hills, stairs like this are many (although not all of them are painted).

brightly coloured stairs that end with a a white wall with paintings of people made from circles and ovals with stick arms and legs, all doing something

below: A busy group of people, climbing ladders, filming, talking to the cameraman, constructing, walking, etc.

a white wall with paintings of people made from circles and ovals with stick arms and legs, all doing something, climbing ladder,

rainow and flowers painted on a set of stairs

below: A long ribbon of colours flow from her backpack.

black silhouette of a girl with a backpack on, reading a book, colours flow from ther backpack in a long wave down the stairs

below: Leaves made of multicoloured spirals

beside a railing and a staircase, a mural of a tree with spirals in the place of leaves, many colours

part of a mural of stick figures with oval bodies, a hand on a hip

below: A question mark on his forehead.  Also, a view of one of the hillsides in central Amman.

a blue line drawing of a man's face with a question mark on his forehead, painted on a short wall, view of Amman in the background

Black & White Power

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In Rome there is a long line of murals by Italian artists Sten and Lex that line both sides of the same street, Via dei Magazzini Generali. On one side, on an orange wall, are portraits of famous people.

long orange wall with large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

On the opposite side of the street is a shorter blue wall with pictures of common people.

large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: A Pope

pope and others, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

The portraits were made with a combination of stencils and painting.

girl, middle aged man, woman, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

three people, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

woman in hard hat giving peace symbol with hand, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: Barak Obama

Barak Obama, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

elderly woman with glasses and yellow sweater, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

below: Elvis & others

Elvis Presley and a rapper, large portraits by sten and lex, Italian street arts, in a mural on two sides of the street, of famous people and common people,

The one different picture is the panther, a symbol of power, with a woman’s face superimposed on it.

a large panther head in profile, with mouth wide open and teeth showing, a woman superimposed onto the side of the face of the panther, mural by sten and lex called black and white power

 

at Borgo Pio and Vicolo Del Campanile

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Near the Vatican is saw a small collection of pasteups:

below: Game Over on the Cash Machine by Luther Posca

paste up graffiti on a wall in Rome, a picture of a cash machine as video game, monitor says game over

paper paste up of Jesus, white robes, halo, and arms reaching up

close up of Jesus's upper body and the picture and words on his chest

below: The remains of a big nosed character by K2M with a red heart along with a black and white version of Edvard Munch’s “Scream” but with a man in a white shirt and black tie instead.  Modern man’s turn to scream.

3 paper paste ups on a yellow concrete wall, all three slightly faded and peeling at the edges, one is a K2M charaacter with a red heart, another is a black and white drawing similar to Edvard Munsch's Scream painting, and the last is a drawing of a young boy with ray gun and old fashioned idea of a space uniform

below: Similar to above but in better condition.  K2M’s iconic character now has a pink heart and a version of “American Gothic” by Grant Wood has appeared beside the screaming man. Again, the man is dressed in a white shirt and black tie.   Almost lost at the bottom are two stickers from Flat Heart.

paste ups on a metal box in the street in Rome

Roman faces and clown fish

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 “The Fall of the Gods” can seen on Via Ostiense.  It is a 40 metre mural painted in 2015 by Carlos Atoche and Mexican artist Luis Alberto Alvarez.  In it, images of ancient Roman statues have fallen and are now underwater.

faces and fish on blue background, painted mural on wall with barbed wire above it, another mural on the wall beyond as well

bearded man face, lying on his back, with a flying fish passing beside him

old mural of clown fish and faces on a wall

clown fish in mural

in a mural, a clown fish swims beside a swordfish

corner of wall, painted face, mural on both sides of the corner, rental bike, jump, parked in front

a man seated, with one foot on the other knee, bending over with hand on foot that's resting on knee

face of grey bearded man with curly hair, eyes closed, painted in a mural

wall with old mural, pieces of wall, breaking off, tree beside woth motorcyle

bike parked against a post in front of mural with a whale

below: This was above the mural

an old Barbie doll caught in a barbed wire fence above a mural

Pictures of the mural back when it was freshly painted can be seen on Carlos Atoches’ website.

Hunting Pollution

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In the Ostiense district in Rome there is a large mural of a heron titled “Hunting Pollution”.   It covers seven storeys of a residential building and took 21 days to paint in 2018.

Lower part of a large mural called Hunting Pollution by Federico Massa also known as Iena Cruz, of a heron, over seven storeys of a building in Rome, background in marine blues and greens

The artist, Federico Massa (aka Iena Cruz) has used Airlite paint.  This paint has been engineered to clean the air around it by neutralizing some pollutants.

Upper part of a large mural called Hunting Pollution by Federico Massa also known as Iena Cruz, of a heron with a fish in its beak

The mural was commissioned by Yourban2030, a female non-profit group that strives to bring awareness to environmental issues.

Lower part of a large mural called Hunting Pollution by Federico Massa also known as Iena Cruz, of a heron

pink seaweed or trees in a mural with a heron