David Attenborough and ‘Horseboy’ are two murals created by art collective Subset.
The first one was painted for the film maker’s 93rd birthday last year on a house in Portobello. The houseboy is located in Church Street, and was painted by members of the Subset art group two years ago.
SUBSET is a collective of designers, artists, filmmakers, and curators with the aim to transform the country to an open air gallery, as is written on their website.
Even if the two murals were allegedly accepted by residents, the artists didn’t have permission from Dublin city’s planning department before painting. So, the murals might be removed.
Two petitions has been launched in order to defend them.
“We want to voice our protest over the decision made by Dublin City Council to remove the David Attenborough mural at the corner of Longwood Avenue and South Circular Rd” — said the petition launched to defend the Portobello’s mural.
The creators of the petition highlight that “David Attenborough was an important figure in documenting and demonstrating the value of natural environment. At this crucial moment in history, when global warming and other aspects of human-induced climate change are threatening our very survival — attention needs to be drawn to those individuals and efforts who work to save our planet”.
Both the petitions are addressed to the City Council and not to the landlords of the properties on which the murals were painted. In fact, as declared by the creators of the two petitions” if the landlord wishes for the artwork to be removed we respect that decision as it is ultimately their choice to make. However to the best of our knowledge the tenant had in fact received permission from the landlord at the time we painted this piece.”
“I think a public petition is a good way of focussing attention on people’s views and people’s feelings” —Green Party Dublin MEP Ciarán Cuffe said.
Find the petitions and other useful link down here.
