crow | Eyes on the Streets

A title that succinctly describe this scene:

three dimensional letters spelling Heerlen in front of an apartment complex with a large mural by inti on the front of it

below: “Creed” by Chilean artist Inti

large mural by Inti on the side of a midrise apartment block

A woman, Madonna-like? or in a Muslim head scarf?….. holding an olive branch which is a symbol of peace, but she’s wearing an ammo belt around her waist.

part of a larger mural, a person with a belt of bullets around their waist, and a shirt in camoflauge colours.

part of a larger mural, person with anatomical looking red heart on chest, and holding an olive branch, by inti

Aurora refers to the buildings covered in the brightly coloured stripes, a work by the Spanish artist collective Boa Mistura. It includes the test, “In het hart van elke winter leeft een trillende lente” which translates to “In the heart of every winter lives a vibrating spring”. The artwork covers 228 apartment units and is probably the largest mural in Europe.

apartment building, residential, with stripes in yellow, oranges, and purples, with a text, a quote from Kahlil Gibran

In front of the apartment complex is a large 3-D sign spelling the name of the city, Heerlen. When it was first installed, it was orange. Now it has been enhanced with some DazeTwo ravens and crows at one end ….

the H and E letters, 3 D, painted with crows and ravens in various positions

…. and the ending letters were decorated by Amber Delahaye with other elements from nature such as mushrooms, butterflies, and flowers.

last three letters of Heerlen sign, capital letters, L, E, and N, painted with butterflies, mushrooms, and flowers

NOTE: The quote on the buildings is taken from one by Kahlil Gibran which says: “In every winter’s heart there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil of each night there is a smiling dawn”

Photos taken October 2023

More Heerlen murals were in the previous post, “more Heerlen birds”

below: Miners hard at work under the mining museum in Heerlen.

small stencils of 4 workmen, miners, digging in the sidewalk, on the very bottom of the wall, pick axe,

below: More miners, but this time they are having a bit of fun riding in the mine carts as they roll downhill.

street art picture of men riding on and holding on to mine carts going downhill inside a mine

below: The Heerlen workmen aren’t just in the mines. You can see them in a number of places around the city.

graffiti stencil by jaune of a workman in orange and yellow vest swinging on a rope

below: In some cases you can spot them dealing with the blackbirds, the gold crown topped ravens.

below: The stenciled workmen were created by Jaune. On his Instagram page there is a great line, “The world belongs to those who build it”.

below: A white crow joins the fun.

below: A larger mural full of black birds. Like all the other birds in this post, this is the work of Daze Two, a local Heerlen artist.

below: Closer view of the ravens in the mural above.

close up of daze two mural of a group of blackbirds, feather, wings,

below: Is there a story here? What kind of interaction is there between the realistic looking black birds and the flat red bird? X marks the spot, but why?

graffiti painting of 3 blackbirds and a red bird

below: A last look at the birds, a small Daze Two work, part of a larger piece, on a brick wall.

Photos taken October 2023

More Heerlen murals can be seen in the next blog post – link to “more Heerlen birds“.

Eyes on the Streets

and feets on the ground. Graffiti, street art and murals seen while wandering the streets and alleys of our colourful world.

Tag Archives: crow

Inti, Aurora and the Heerlen sign

the workmen and the black birds