Digitizing the Murals of Northern Ireland (1979-2013): Images and Interpretation

The Murals of Northern Ireland Archive consists of some 3,500 images of murals that appeared in Northern Ireland between 1979 and the present. Painted in a large number of areas in Northern Ireland, the functions of the murals have changed over time and range from direct interventions in the conflict to attempts to foster peace and reconciliation. In capturing photographs of murals that represent a variety of political, cultural, and social viewpoints, and by storing them in a digital archive, the Murals of Northern Ireland project aims to record the various and often competing narratives that have been layered on specific locations throughout Northern Ireland. In the very act of curating the murals in a digital archive, however, the images undergo yet further mediation. This article, therefore, considers how the archived images were gathered and then digitized, as well as the ways in which these processes raise issues that are of significance for work in the fields of both Digital Humanities and Irish Studies.