Walking through Shipley (the small town in which Saltaire sits) I passed this wall picture, painted on the gable end of a row of terraced houses. It caused quite a lot of controversy when it was first unveiled in 2002, but I guess people have got used to it by now. Created as part of Bradford's (unsuccessful) bid to become a European City of Culture, it was painted by a German artist Osman Bol, along with Amerjeat Kaur and Shaun Fagan of Metro Arts (a council-run arts project). At first glance you would think it was a local scene showing Salts Mill and the canal. In fact the scene is supposed to have elements of both Shipley/Saltaire and Hamm, which is Bradford's 'twin town' in Germany, and is an artistic rather than a literal view. The children depicted are the children who lived in the house at the time.
One can only hope that the wall and the painting will stay, I like these type of murals and I have to admit I like graffiti. Often the paintings are done on buildings that are planned for demolition, which is a shame.
Walking through Shipley (the small town in which Saltaire sits) I passed this wall picture, painted on the gable end of a row of terraced houses. It caused quite a lot of controversy when it was first unveiled in 2002, but I guess people have got used to it by now. Created as part of Bradford's (unsuccessful) bid to become a European City of Culture, it was painted by a German artist Osman Bol, along with Amerjeat Kaur and Shaun Fagan of Metro Arts (a council-run arts project). At first glance you would think it was a local scene showing Salts Mill and the canal. In fact the scene is supposed to have elements of both Shipley/Saltaire and Hamm, which is Bradford's 'twin town' in Germany, and is an artistic rather than a literal view. The children depicted are the children who lived in the house at the time.
One can only hope that the wall and the painting will stay, I like these type of murals and I have to admit I like graffiti. Often the paintings are done on buildings that are planned for demolition, which is a shame.
ReplyDeleteI too like it. We have enough blank gable ends to meet everyones' need for dull brick and stone walls. Get out the paint pots, I say.
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