By Lesley Walsh
A DRAMATIC new mural has been unveiled in Bangor depicting the ongoing battle to bring an end to violence against women and girls.
Executed by locally-based artist Friz, the mural on Hamilton Road captures the zeitgeist of the growing movement – depicting a young woman’s basic human right to walk the streets of her local town in safety.
The mural features a woman wearing a jacket carrying the essence of the campaign to protect females, ‘Girls Just Wanna Walk Home’, a play on the 1983 anthem to female solidarity, ’Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ by Cyndi Lauper.
On one of the subject’s wrists are motivational wristbands spelling out the message ‘end to violence against women and girls’.
The artist, originally from Sligo, is known for her work featuring powerful female iconography, both realistic and from folklore, and from nature.
The mural was co-designed with the Flip the Script girls group from YMCA North Down, and developed in collaboration with the Ards and North Down Community Safety Team.
Friz, whose name is Marian Noone, spoke to the Spectator from Romania, where she is creating a piece of art in the Irish embassy in Bucharest to celebrate the ties between the two countries and Ireland’s presidency of the European Union.
Started with an investment from Ards and North Down Council, the mural subject was inspired by the young women and girls of the local YMCA’s Flip the Script themselves, aided by Seacourt Print Worship.
“They approached me, as a female artist, and I was working with them, getting their ideas, so I went in completely open-minded,” she said.
“They had done a few projects themselves about the issue of violence against women and girls, and micro subjects on the theme, like online abuse.”
She explained that the germ of an idea for the eventual mural image began to emerge following an event, similar to the Reclaim the Night movement, when the young women and girls of the local YMCA’s Flip the Script walked local streets, taking photographs to mark the event.
“There were photos of the girls with their arms in the air and that was the inspiration for the pose of the mural,” she said.
Sourcing denim jackets to practice the various designs and messages that would eventually make it on to the final image, Friz said ‘we destroyed the jacket and made it look really cool and they put their ideas together and I made sketches of those.
Then, using ‘a shoulder here’, and ‘the drape ofanother person’s jacket’, her ‘mishmash’ of models led to the stunning result imprinted on the Hamilton Road gable wall for all to admire.
North Down MLA Connie Egan, who is also the Alliance spokeswoman on ending violence against women and girls, praised the message behind the new mural.
“All of us deserve to feel safe walking home at night and we know that far too many women and girls feel unsafe doing so, particularly if they are out on their own.
“The new mural on Hamilton Road brings much needed attention to the issue of violence against women and girls. Situated on the wall of Inflow Pilates, a new local business, it sends a clear message that women and girls should feel, and be, safe everywhere in our society.
“This striking piece of art not only adds colour and vibrancy to Bangor city centre, but also serves as a powerful catalyst for conversations within our community and helping to raise awareness of the campaign to end violence against women and girls.
Praising Friz and the co-designers, she added: “Everyone who played their part in making this happen should be commended for their creativity and hard work.”
