The Walls Tell a Story

The IRL Festival invites you to explore the stories of the history, people and culture of Northern Ireland through a documentary on the political street art that covers the walls of Ulster.  Following this short film, we will hear how they have changed in the past decade through a talk by Professor Eric Lepp with a Q&A to follow.

Murals have long been used to deliver territorial and political messages in Northern Ireland.

Engaging with the way that murals, and their sites, have evolved since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, this talk will explore how these dynamic visual expressions reshape and/or reinforce the spaces they occupy. Analysing the way mural sites change and evolve opens the door to seeing how these colourful pieces of street art visibly illustrate the complexities of post-peace agreement Belfast, where community-designed and government-funded murals calling for

peaceful coexistence between Unionist and Nationalist communities can sit side-by-side divisive imagery and glorification of paramilitary activity.

Tickets are PWYC (pay-what-you-can) and go towards supporting the festival programming.

Bar and concession will be available for purchase.

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Eric Lepp, Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo – Conrad Grebel University College, delves into the intricate dynamics within spaces of contact, endeavouring to understand communities that include the ‘other’ in conflict-affected societies. His focus extends to counter-cultural, resistant, and unconventional spaces where a vision for peace emerges against division.