The famous murals of
The Bogside Artists of Derry, Northern
Ireland
Tom Kelly, his brother William, and Kevin Hasson
are the
three men who created and painted all  of the twelve
murals of ... the internationally acclaimed
THE PEOPLE'S
GALLERY
Their artwork represents the Bogside,
its history, its spirit and its people; and many thousands of
people come to Derry each year to hear the history of the 'troubles'
and to see the celebrated street of murals in the Bogside. Painted from photographic
material these are the most authentic renditions possible of the
events depicted and acclaimed by many critics and writers as "art of
the highest order".
The murals of
The People's Gallery stretch in a line the entire length of
Rossville Street in the Bogside area of Derry that experienced the
worst of the troubles throughout the long conflict. Their unique gallery of murals was envisioned and
created by the three men universally acclaimed
as The Bogside
Artists. As their spokesman Tom explains;
" wound must be cleaned out and examined
before it will heal. It is the unexamined wound that festers and
finally poisons. Our work shows the wounds." (words from Bishop Desmond
Tutu)
This
determination to tell their own story is what drives "The Bogside Artists", the name registered to
them and by which they are now known world wide from Boston to
Shenzhen.
Their
works bear living witness to a prolonged period of social
conflict that will be remembered always.
ARTISTS' STATEMENT
There used to be a petition here to light up the murals of the non-publicized People's Gallery we created. In a couple of months we collected thousands of signatures. This January we simply gave up waiting for the council to honour its seven-years old pledge to illuminate the murals. For this year's Bloody Sunday march we began to light them up ourselves with the help of volunteers from the community. The effect is absolutely stunning; you can find good photos on our Facebook pages.
We will light all the murals now that our adversaries have left us alone for a while and taken time out from trying to run down the murals, the Bogside and us in blind deference to the heavily funded campaign to market Derry as a "walled city" as if no other city in Europe could boast such an unusual feature.
The walls were still there we recall prior to the 'troubles' when visitors to the "walled city" were so few that no records were kept. It is clear to everyone, outside of council offices, that what brings visitors to our city is our RECENT HISTORY and nothing much else.
RECENT HISTORY IS WHAT OUR MURALS ARE ABOUT AND WHY A GREAT MANY PEOPLE COME TO DERRY.
Our council reps are clearly proud of their history.
Therefore, we did at our own expense what the council refused to do and which they were never going to fund anyway despite all their clever pledges to the gullible electorate who put them in power. They should hang their heads in shame is our view.
With your help we will succeed in lighting all of the murals and thus making The Bogside one of the most spectacular and safe places in Ireland or the UK. The city walls will thereby have fulfilled their destiny of providing the best vantage point from which to view The People's Gallery of The Bogside.
You can help achieve this stroke of justice for the people of the Bogside by donating via the link below. Thank you.
Yes. I want to help light up the famous murals of The Bogside.
This site is of special interest to students of
fine art, public art and history; to those intending to visit
Ireland, or to anyone interested in Irish affairs in general
or the work of The Bogside Artists in particular. Much of the
information is in PDF format and printable. More information
about the celebrated tour HERE.
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NB: If you are a curator who intends to show the work of The Bogside Artists or hope to work with them at some time in the future, or indeed if you had once booked them for a show and then were talked out of it by a third party, you would be well advised to read THIS.
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