Liam gets hands on with Mural

When completed, the Mural will be exhibited in the Assembly Buildings at Stormont in May and then be formally handed over to the Houses of Parliament where it will be displayed from 14 June to 4 July as part of the ‘Arts in Parliament’ programme, a free cultural programme celebrating the Olympic year.

The 5mx2m mural called ‘Hands Around The World’ is the brain child of Ballymena group The Creative Peace Mural Society who, since 2000, have travelled the world developing murals with communities in places such as Uganda and China. Over the years they have created 10 murals.

The project, in association with Ballymena Borough Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Ballymena Learning Together, has been awarded the London 2012 Inspire mark and is an official project of the Cultural Olympiad. It will bring together over 500 post primary students from schools across Ballymena. The students will create a mural which will reflect their view of the world and the Olympic values of friendship and respect.

Work on the mural started this week in The Braid, Ballymena. Taking three weeks to complete, the mural will include a border of hand prints and a series of key words relating to the values of the 2012 Olympic Games surrounding a central feature depicting cultures from around the world.

When approached to offer his handprint for the mural Liam Neeson, pictured providing his handprint, said: “I love the idea of Hands Around The World. What a great concept.”

When completed the mural will join the Creative Peace Mural Society’s other 10 peace murals from around the world which are being exhibited as a full collection for the very first time in historic Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament.

More on this story with additional pictures on page 12 this week.