history on the streets

Posted on May 9, 2023 by Mary C

While walking around the Byward Market in Ottawa, I saw a lot of traffic control boxes at intersections that were wrapped with old black and white photos. This is the result of The Capital History Project, a collaborative effort between Carleton University, the Workers History Museum, and the city of Ottawa. These boxes first appeared 2017 and they are/were all over the city. I am not sure how many there still are …. but here are a few of them….

below: Petigorsky’s shoe repair. Mr. Oscar Petigorsky in front of the store that he and his wife Nina ran, 1930s. The store was at 289 Dalhousie Street.

below: The sign on the side of the horse drawn wagon says “”Tea and Coffee Warehouse, W. Cunningham, Grocer, Wine Merchant”

below: “Ottawa band Modern Rock Quartet at Cafe Le Hibou”, photo by Dave Sproul circa 1970. MRQ was formed in 1967 and over the next few years they played with many top rock groups of the era. According to Wikipedia, their first live performance was at the Prime Minister’s official residence – that would be Pierre Trudeau.

black and white photo by The Photographic Stores, Dave Sproul, of a band, 3 members, one on drums, one man on guitar and third man singing with mike on a stand

below: Sam’s? Buy & Sell

For a complete story of these boxes, see the Capital History website. There you will find an interactive map showing the location of all the boxes.

Photos taken May 2023

Kiemo Galerija – Yard Gallery

Posted on August 24, 2022 by Mary C

Back in 2014, Vytenis Jakas decided to turn a residential courtyard into an art gallery.

below: Charlie Chaplin oversees the entrance to the yard. The black plaque above Chaplin’s head is in memory of Juda Zupavicius (1914-1944) who was a lieutenant in the Lithuanian military and a chief on the Kaunas ghetto police force. In 1941 the Jewish residents of this area were forced out and had to relocate to the Kaunas ghetto. Zupavicius was also one of the leaders of the underground resistance during WW2.

street art on a concrete wall, three older women sitting on a bright red bench. Women are wearing grey winter coats, head scarves, and sun glasses. the woman in the middle is knitting

below: The words under the photo of the couple: „Čia 1939 m. – 1941 m. gyveno Dita ir Juda Zupavičiai. Juda buvo vienas iš Kauno geto pogrindžio vadovų, žiauriai nacistų kankintas neišdavė geto vaikų slėptuvių. Dita buvo kovos bendražygė“ (English translation: “Here in 1939 – 1941 lived Dita and Juda Zupavičiai. Juda was one of the underground leaders of the Kaunas ghetto, he was brutally tortured by the Nazis and did not reveal the hiding places of the ghetto children. Dita was a comrade in the struggle”)

street art, three black and white photos of people who used to live in the courtyard. A large artwork of Marcel Marceau in white clown mime clothes, a red tear painted on his face, standing beside a vintage box camera on a tripod

bright yellow shutters on a window, pot of geraniums, red geraniums, beside, an empty flower box below, a painting of a fat brown cat half out the window and half inside

below: Venus probably never had to do the grocery shopping

Yard Gallery

Upon noticing that the neighbours living in the yard had become alienated and had forgotten the common past of the yard, the artist Vytenis Jakas started creating a “Yard Gallery” – a courtyard surrounded by apartment buildings built in the inter-war period. In the past, the yard inhabitants knew each other well, communicated warmly, celebrated holidays together, and supported each other in troublesome times. The yard had a large table, a fountain and a sculpture, the Dapkevicius sisters grew flowers, and lilacs grew near the windows of the neighbour Regina. Over time, the population and the social environment changes, the number of cars increased, and the yard space became too small.

Seeing this situation, Vytenis Jakas, with the help of other artists and neighbours, turned the derelict yard into a centre of attraction, the open air “Yard Gallery”. Various artistic projects are implemented here: Portraits of the Jews who lived in this house before the Holocaust, along with the current residents, characters of various works are painted on the facades of the apartment buildings; mirror mosaics and stained glass windows are created, and community events are organised, with community festivals celebrated together. “

mosaic on a wall, outdoors, made of broken pieces of mirror. reflective

Sweet Paradise seen

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Mary C

I saw these three posters on street art covered walls in Athens.
They are both part of an award winning series by Brazilian photographer Fabricio Brambatti.

below: “My Sweet Paradise” by Fabricio Brambatti a.k.a. Urso Morto

poster on an outdoor wall, a person wrapped in a red blanket and lying on the sidewalk

The small print on the bottom right of these two posters says:
” This is a poster part of the Guerilla Exhibition – https://void.photo “

below: “My Sweet Paradise” by Fabricio Brambatti a.k.a. Urso Morto

poster on a wall outdoors, of a man sleeping in a shopping cart outside.

below: Near the top right corner is another poster from the “My Sweet Paradise” series – the photo of the man lying on a black and white tiled floor. He is bleeding. There are many posters by #ironik on this wall as well.

a motorcycle is parked in front of a wall covered with posters. Some are advertisements and some are graffiti

Link to more information about Brambatti.

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: photography

history on the streets

Kiemo Galerija – Yard Gallery

Sweet Paradise seen