Sunflowers are heliotropic. To obtain their brilliant golden hue, their stalks turn, embracing the sun as it crosses the sky. Symbols of optimism and hope.
In 2014, a florist in Taiwan donated 1,000 sunflowers to students protesting a trade agreement between Taiwan and China. The Taiwanese students adopted the flower for their namesake – the Sunflower Student Movement.
Of course, the students cannot publicize their objections in China. But in 2022, some 17,000 tourists from China visited Great Britain. So what better spot to slap them in the face with symbolic murals they will recognize instantly – the trendy Shoreditch district in East London – its streets not shirking away from international protest art.
Through the centuries an industrial working-class neighborhood, Shoreditch in recent times has attracted creatives. But, as often demonstrated in urban environments, art adds to the appeal of neighborhoods. Cafes and restaurants follow. Gentrification begins to push out the existing immigrant community. Next, the artists who made it fashionable find living there beyond their means. A painful cycle.
Other than the featured work, the blog’s first installment of Shoreditch street art does not include other sunflower images. Probably more will appear in a subsequent post. But friends huddling in the frigid El Norte* need a distraction, so I’m offering a batch of images of street art from the walls in this East London district. Consider this a first installment.
Street art is merely paint and paper. Plus gallons of passion and reams of gumption.
Shoreditch street art
*Thought friends might want salt in the streets right now instead of my rubbing it in the wound by posting photos from sunny Oaxaca.
Postcards from Barton Springs 