Throughout Belfast there are a series of Peace lines or walls which are separation barriers constructed between the city’s Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods. The walls were built between the 1970s and 1990s to help prevent violence between the clashing communities. (To find out more about “The Troubles” – the conflict between rival ideologies in Northern Ireland – click here.)

Originally thought to be temporary, the walls which number around 40 are still mostly intact today and many are graffiti covered in sectarian and anti-social slogans. In an attempt to transform the negativity associated with the peace wall that separates Belfast’s Shankill and Falls Road, William ‘Plum’ Smith, a community worker with the Ex-Prisoners Interpretive Centre, came up with the idea of inviting graffiti artists from all over the world to create works of art on a 600 yard stretch of the wall.

Thirty-three artists from places such as Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Australia were each allotted a section of the wall (≈ 25 ft by 15 ft) for their artwork. What was created was a mishmash of pieces including everything from modern art to interpretations of Catwoman and images of a spaceship. Quoted in the Belfast Telegraph, Smith said “[the artists] transformed the peace wall from being a graffiti-covered monstrosity to a pleasing work of art. Most of them paid their own travel expenses, EPIC sponsored their accommodation and the firm ‘Montana’ supplied the paint. It’s a tremendous project.” Not surprisingly, the transformed peace wall is already flooded with visitors checking out the new artwork.

Source; Source; Wall Image Source; Can Image Source

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