This document summarizes and discusses a large mural celebrating Game of Thrones that was painted beside a Twelfth of July bonfire in East Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2014. The mural uses iconic images from the series set against a flowing map of Westeros. The author notes this mural represents a cultural shift away from traditional sectarian political murals toward more inclusive street art influenced by pop culture. While some locals still engage in racism, murals like this one give hope that the area is becoming more open to outside cultural influences.

1. A Game of Murals | Westeros & changing times in East Belfast
Originally posted online on 7 August 2014 at rmchapple.blogspot.com
(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/a-game-of-murals-westeros-
changing.html)
Even if you’ve never been to Northern Ireland, you probably know about our murals.
Certainly, no visit to Belfast appears to be complete without a trip on one of the
number of ‘troubles tours’ busses to some of the less than salubrious quarters of the
city in search of this form of painted gable sectarianism. Much has been written about
their origins, meaning, symbolism, and all that and, should the mood take you, you
can read about it in the Wiki article: here. The Wiki article gives some examples of the
genre, as does the rather good Belfast Murals site: here. However you look at it, the
murals break down into two main groups:
1) Murals by ‘themuns’ – they’re sectarian, they’re ugly, they glorifying terrorism, and
they’re probably not particularly well made … which, quite frankly, is all you can expect
from a bunch of savages like that!
2) Murals by ‘usuns’ – they proudly display our beautiful, inclusive culture and
commemorate our fallen freedom fighters. They are genuine works of art that are far
superior to the disgusting daubs perpetrated by ‘themuns’.
You can see some examples of both from my own collection, taken in 2002: here.
However, there’s a third group of murals that no one really seems to know what to do
with. The Wiki article calls them ‘other’, while the Belfast Murals site allows you to
filter your search by ‘Social/Cultural Murals’. If it’s not obviously about themuns or
usuns, it appears that we are unable or unwilling to process it.

2. Building the bonfire on the Comber Greenway July 2014
A little while ago, I wrote a brief piece for this blog about the 2014 Game of Thrones
Exhibition in Belfast. My theme at that time was that, although it was a selection of the
costumes and props on display (beautiful as they are), it was the Northern Irish
landscape and a number of our heritage sites used in the filming that were of more
interest to me. Then as now, I’d suggest that if you are planning a holiday to these
parts, you could do so much worse than adding some of these places to your
itinerary. Obviously, the filming of this series in Northern Ireland has had a very
positive impact on our economy, with literally millions of pounds being spent here by
the production crew. It has also been a boon for unshaven, long-haired, and generally
unkempt men that are suddenly welcomed with open arms as multitudes of well-paid
extras (you know who you are!). What I hadn’t realised at the time was how much the
idea of the books and TV series have sunk into the wider consciousness. The Wiki
article referred to above describes the Northern Irish murals as ‘a mirror of political
change’. I would only amend that to add that it can also act as a barometer for broader
cultural change too.

3. Morning of the 12th July 2014, Comber Greenway
In 2014, when some folks were building a giant bonfire to celebrate the 12th of July on
the Comber Greenway in East Belfast, someone was doing something completely
different right beside them. This is a large-scale mural celebration of Game of Thrones.
It uses iconic images from the series (the Iron Throne of the Seven
Kingdoms of Westeros; Jon Snow’s white Direwolf, Ghost; and one of Daenerys
Targaryen’s dragons) all set against a flowing, and somewhat frayed, map of the GoT
universe, itself on a black background. As far as I can tell, the geographical names
(e.g. Qarth, King’s Landing, Storm’s End, Riverrun, etc.) are added in, if not quite at
random, then to create a balanced and pleasing image, as opposed to remaining true
to the ‘real’ geography of the GoT world - though they are most
certainly poorly punctuated. One visual element that initially caught me out was the
manner of the depiction of the Iron Throne itself. The version known on the TV series,
and from the books, is a very, sharp, spiky affair, known to draw blood from its
incumbents. However, this version was all cylinders and rounded ends … I initially
interpreted them as artillery cannon and thought there was some deeper militaristic
or political message being communicated. It was only a little while later that I realised
that they were actually the type of aerosol spray cans used to create this work. If
anything – my lack of cultural savvy, aside – this must reinforce the distance between
this and the ‘traditional’ sectarian and political murals. Instead, it is much more a part
of the contemporary graffiti and street art movements, more influenced by hip
hop music than ‘drum and fife’. Some of the locals of east Belfast may still engage
in sickening racist attacks, but scenes like this give some hope that we’re moving away
from a narrow, provincial world view to one that’s wider, brighter and more accepting
of external cultural influences. Long may they paint!

4. Panoramic shot of the largest section of the GoT mural (click for larger image)

6. In the final section, I just wanted to add a few details of the mural, emphasising as
much the image as the texture of the wall on which it is painted – partially flaked, with
lumps, bumps and scores in the concrete … it has been home to numerous murals in
the past and will, I am sure, be again in the future ... I'm just pausing for a moment to
record this layer!
Well, I thought it was interesting!