After that great mural in Monteleone di Puglia (here), Australian artist Fintan Magee is back with ‘Pray for rain’, a new striking mural painted in Istanbul, Turkey for this year’s Mural Istanbul festival.
According to Fintan Magee, the new work intends to use humour and realist imagery to tell an Australian story outside of it’s usual context and setting. By drawing links between ongoing drought in Australia and the Middle East the artist aims to demonstrate our connection in the struggle against climate change and the challenges we face going into the future.
“In 2008 my home city of Brisbane was hit with level 6 water restrictions following over a decade of drought. At it’s peak our cities water supply dropped to %16 and Garden hoses were banned as people were advised to only take 5 minute showers. To deal with the water shortage many city residents would shower with buckets, collecting the excess soapy water so they could use it to wash their cars and water their gardens.
While Queenslanders were showering with buckets South Turkey and the Levant region was 2 years into it’s own drought, a drought which a decade on has grown into the worst on record and possibly the worst in 900 years. A NASA study published by the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres suggests that the severe drought conditions in the Middle East have had a “catalytic effect” for the upheaval and conflict that eventually gripped Syria.” – Fintan Magee
Fintan uses his personal experience to talk about broader issues of climate change and displacement and this piece is no exception.
Fintan Magee website | instagram | facebook
Author: Fran
Founder and editor of Urbanite. Street Art lover who after the finishing her MA thesis on the Mexican and Norwegian muralist movement in the 1920-50s, developed a fascination for street art and graffiti that eventually led to collaborations with different art blogs, including the creation of this one.
