New Ardú mural on South Main Street addresses Ireland’s housing crisis

Ardú Street Art is transforming Cork.
Street artist Asbestos has completed his mural South Main Street as part of Ardú 2021.
The wall mural, which covers the entire gable wall of an old building, is a commentary on Ireland’s ongoing housing crisis. Describing the piece, Ardú Street Art Project said: “Asbestos asks ‘What is home?… Do you have one, is it safe, can you afford it? Never as a country has our sense of what home means been more at threat.'”
Explaining the technique behind the piece, Ardú said Asbestos used a “‘doodle grid’ – artists draw a large grid on their wall which matches a grid they have overlaid on their paper/digital design. Then they freehand the design accordingly onto the wall.”
The mural depicts a human figure with a house-shaped box on its heading, with a hole cut out at the eye. The logo on the box also looks notably like a certain major delivery company that plans to open several data centres in Ireland over the coming years.
You can check out the photos below.
“What is home?” mural by #Asbestos for Ardú2021
📍South Main St, CorkAsbestos asks "What is home?… Do you have one, is it safe, can you afford it? Never as a country has our sense of what home means been more at threat"
📸 https://t.co/cwKfDqH9Hy@corkcitycouncil @creativeirl pic.twitter.com/6eHJKNI4aL
— Ardú Street Art Project (@ArduStreetArt) October 11, 2021
Asbestos’ mural on South Main Street is one of three murals that have been commissioned as part of the project, including Shane O’Malley’s colourful mural at Horgan’s Quay, and a piece by Conor Harrington at Bishop Lucey Park.
Header image via Twitter/@ArduStreetArt