A campaign to promote all that is good about Dublin has been launched this week by a group of concerned artists.
The ‘This Is Dublin Our Fair City’ initiative includes a giant 28-metre mural on Dublin’s Dame Street, a video of the city’s highlights and a spoken word poem by a former Dublin City Council writer in residence.
“The idea is to create an uplifting message that showcases the many good and wonderful things there are to love about the city,” said mural artist and signwriter, Cormac Dillon.
“Dublin has been hit with a lot of negativity, from the recent riots to the ongoing housing crisis, we rarely seem to hear good things about our capital.
“We want to help bring back some pride of place by reminding people about Dublin’s many positives,” Cormac added.
Known for his traditional sign writing skills and mural creations, Cormac, who runs Mack Signs, reached out to fellow artists to collaborate in creating a piece aimed at inspiring hope and positivity around the capital.
The poet Geoff Finan, writer in residence for Dublin City Council North West in 2018 and 2019, and Dublin based mural artist and videographer Decoy, answered the call.
Together the talented trio have created a mural, video and spoken word art piece.
Featuring Cormac’s ‘This is Dublin Our Fair City’ mural, Decoy’s video highlights the people and places that give Dublin its unique character, while ‘This is Dublin’, a new poem by Geoff, provides the soundtrack.
Released on Instagram on Tuesday (Feb 6) the artists hope their tribute to the capital will become something of a viral sensation by providing an antidote to some of the adverse publicity Dublin has received of late.
“There is so much about Dublin that’s wonderful, it’s a city whose streets overflow with art. Galleries open their doors to us, music plays out on every corner,” said Geoff, whose poem ‘January 1919’ commemorating the first Dáil, has recently been archived by the National Library.
“There are only three degrees of separation here. It’s a tight knit community town, a mish mash of races and identities, masquerading as metropolitan.
“Anyone who leaves says what they miss most is the people, the wit and the craic.”
In his visual ode to Dublin, Decoy’s accompanying video aims to capture the city’s highlights along with its hidden gems.
Images of towering city spires and well known landmarks jostle along with views of colourful back streets and market stall holders.
“I wanted to capture Dublin’s richness and distinctive character to remind people of all that is good about the city,” said Decoy.
Cormac thanked the Mercantile Hotel, currently under renovation, for the use of its Dame Street hoarding and the artists who provided their services free of charge.
“This is not a commercial project, it’s something we wanted to do for our city,” he said.