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Drawings of Bogside Artists represent key events of Northern Ireland’s troubled past
Drawings of Bogside Artists represent key events of Northern Ireland’s troubled past
Thomas Kelly, part of a trio of mural painters from Derry, Northern Ireland, whose creations draw thousands of visitors from across the world, will give a public talk at BSC on Thursday, April 26, about the famous murals and their impact.
Kelly, his brother William, and their friend Kevin Hasson spent more than a decade depicting important events from 30 years of the civil conflict in the six counties of Northern Ireland. The trio, who used buildings as their canvas, became known as the Bogside Artists.
Their most famous work, a series of outdoor murals called “The People’s Gallery,” is located in the Bogside neighborhood of Derry—one of the most troubled areas of the long conflict that began in 1968. The murals pay homage to the people of Northern Ireland and also to human rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Next January, a group of BSC students and faculty will travel to Ireland to study the period. The students will be accompanied by Robert E. Luckie Jr. Professor of English Dr. Sandra Sprayberry and Erica Brown, director of multicultural affairs, who have previously taken students to Ireland to explore the connections between Birmingham’s role in the American civil rights movement and the Northern Ireland conflict.
Kelly’s presentation will be held at 11 a.m. (Common Hour) in the Norton Campus Center Theatre. The talk, sponsored by the college’s Cross Cultural Committee, is free and open to the public. Kelly will remain on campus two additional days for a range of classroom visits.
