Around the corner (quite literally!) from the Keith Flint mural created recently by AKSE_P19 is the Hackney Carnival Peace Mural created in 1985 (!) from designs by Ray Walker. Based on the 1983 peace carnival, understanding the mural is all about appreciating the time and place of its creation.

I feel like, for once, my age is to my advantage here: 1983 was within a period of huge tension (the ‘Cold War’) between the US and the Soviet Union which in broad terms is thought to have lasted from shortly after the end of WW II through to the break up of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

The threat of nuclear war, where the two competing ‘superpowers’ built up such enormous nuclear arsenals that the shadow of obliteration was but the press of a button away, was one which hung over the world.

We see that reflected in the mural: look superficially and we see brass playing carnival goers together with the typical colour and vibrancy of a carnival scene, but look more closely and we see:

• “No more Hiroshimas”
• “Unite for Peace”
• The Soviet Union flag
• A cannon with the letters USA painted along its barrel
• Skeletons

It’s a powerful piece of art which has been restored several times over the decades since its creation. I have described street art as transient but this important work has survived the test of time and long may that continue as we all need to understand and remember.

#peace