Since the tragic murder of George Floyd on May 25th, people’s lives all over the globe have been rocked.
Their have been peaceful protests, riots, shareable media content, and now, we’re seeing public art play its part in the honouring of George Floyd.
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police has sparked numerous murals and public art over the world to memorialise him.
This eye-catching mural above was made in the heart of Minneapolis, the city of George Floyd’s murder. Co-creator Herrara explained to Hyperallergic that the “idea was to depict Floyd not as a martyr but as a social justice hero”. Its striking imagery, followed by the caption “I can breathe now”, delivers a powerful message to those that see it. And a lot of people are. Social media has become the prime tool for analysis and discussion of Floyd, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement. Even TikTok came to document the frontlines of the protests. Plenty of murals such as this one are being shared across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
So why murals? Well, there just seems to be something universal and instantly provoking about public art. The Martin Luther King, “I have a dream” wall in Newtown comes to mind. It’s a memorable and beautiful way to show solidarity to all the anti-racism demonstrations happening worldwide.
Murals and public art remembering Floyd have made their way to Manchester, Dublin, Detroit, Barcelona, and Syria to name a few. Check out some more below. And if you’d like to accompany these visuals with something written, check out Obama’s essay in response to these global protests.
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