Hamra murals

Most of the graffiti and street art that I saw recently in Beirut was political (protest) in nature but there were also some large murals covering the sides of multi-storey buildings in the Hamra district of the city.

below: Picture of  Emily Nasrallah and Huguette Caland by Roula Abdo and Mary Shammas for Art of Change and

a mural on the side of a building of two older women, Emily Nasrallah and Huguette Caland, with arms linked with extra arms, coloured ribbons winding between and around them

below: A mural of a woman, Sabah, by Yazan Halwani surrounded by Arabic calligraphy

high on a wall, a large mural by Yazan Halwani of a woman's head and shoulders, surrounded by Arabic letters and words. she is seen in profile, smiling as she looks away

below: From a distance it just looks like black squiggles covering the mural. In fact it is interlocking characters and animals, especially faces with big lips. It was painted by Potato Nose aka Jad El Khoury.  Have you noticed the little man standing on the roof?

multi storey residential buildings, one has a large mural on the side of it, blue with a lighter blue semi-circle, with black squiggles all over it

below: This mural, titled “Pagano” is the work of South American artist Inti.  It was painted in 2012 as part of the White Wall Beirut project that year.

tall Inti mural in Hamras Beirut, of a boy holding onto a goat, boy wearing hooded jacket and a necklace

head of boy in mural

holding onto a goat in a mural, other little men

below: Unfortunately I don’t know who painted this or what the words say

large mural on the side of a building in Hamras Beirut, purple background with white Arabic writing on it below: One wall of the Mayflower Hotel is covered with this mural by apocaleps

tall narrow mural of part of a man's face, with blue hair and blue mustache, by apocaleps

Kadikoy murals

‘Muralist Istanbul’ is an annual mural painting festival that has been running in the Kadikoy area of Istanbul since 2012.    Most of the murals on this page are from 2013 so you know that this is only a sample of what can be seen in Kadikoy!

 

below: The bottom part of “Occupy Antarctica”.  What is missing is a clock and a red fez – both are above the penguins.  Painted by B. Shanti.

a small blue car is parked in front of the bottom part of a large mural in Kadikoy Istanbul, a group of penguins on top and some text street art on the bottom

below: Two purplish horsemen separated by a column of windows,  by Franco Fasoli aka Jaz (from Argentina) called “One against One” painted in 2013.

large purple hued mural in Kadikoy, two horsemen facing each other with a column of windows in the middle, by Argentinian artis Jaz

 

below: The text says Captain Borderline.  The title is “Sufi of Kadikoy/Totem” and it is the work of Dabtar from Germany.  Dabtar is a member of the Captain Borderline Crew (as is fellow German, B. Shanti, above).

large mural in Kadikoy Istanbul, a man, clownish features, black bears, standing up,

 

below: “Resistencia” by Inti. Skulls on the wrists and an apple in hand.

large mural by inti in Kadikoy Turkey, person with hood, holding an apple in hand,

below: A closer look at the bottom part of the mural that is in the shade.   An ace up the sleeve.

details of inti mural, hand with tattoos

below: Eyes on the balloon, watching as it rises over the vacant lot. “Balao ” by Brazilian artist Claudio Ethos, 2013.

large mural in Kadikoy on the side of a building, hot air balloon, on the side of a building, vacant lot beside behind hoardings covered with ad posters Painted by Brazilian artist Claude Ethos

below: “In Dreams” by Freddy Sam (aka Ricky Lee Gordon)  An elephant at night, under the moon and stars.  Most of his murals are in shades of grey.

a large mural of a realistic looking elephant at night, in grey tones, moon and stars too

below: I couldn’t find any information on this mural.

large mural in Kadikoy of an abstracted face in yellow, blue, red, and green, eyes looking out onto the street

If you plan to visit Kadikoy, do a bit of research online first and save yourself some time! Images and the locations of most of the murals are on the internet.

inti in the 13th, Paris

There are two very large murals in Paris by South American street artist INTI.  INTI was born in Valparaíso, Chile and he takes his name from the Quechua word for ‘the Sun’.

The first mural is a tall one on the side of an apartment building on Avenue L’Italie near Rue Du Tage in the 13th arrd.   Its title is “Our Utopia is Their Future”.

 

 a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti -

part of a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti - a child is working a puppet who in turn has a small puppet on a string

part of a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti - a puppet of a man in a suit and tie, on a string

part of a large multi storey vertical mural on the side of an apartment building in Paris called 'Our Utopia is Their Future' by inti - boys feet

The second INTI mural is also in the 13th arrd.  This time it is a very large horizontal mural on a fence.  It’s also difficult to take a picture of the whole thing!  It seems to be a doll dressed in a patchwork of colours and patterns filled with symbols.  His knees are wooden masks and he has two gold charms attached to his belt.

long horizontal mural of a man with many hats above his head, by Inti, in Paris, on a concrete wall

man in a long horizontal mural, cloth puppet like face, dressed in a patchwork of colours and patterns and Inca and South American symbols, two gold good luck charms attached to his belt.

the end of a hotizontal mural of man bedecked in Inca symbols and colours, wood masks on his knees, patterned knit socks with symbols, not matching, rainbow coloured socks with toes.