Che Guevara mural removed, offends American tourists

minnow · 04-09-2013 9:47am #1

"An iconic mural featuring the face of Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara has been removed because it upset American tourists.

It has been painted over by a local authority just weeks ahead of a local Latin-American cultural festival in Kilkee, Co Clare to celebrate links with Guevara."

How far will we bend over for the sake of not offending any sensitive American tourist souls ? Whatever happened to freedom of expression ?

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/iconic-che-guevara-mural-in-co-clare-removed-after-upsetting-american-tourists-29549796.html

colm_mcm · 04-09-2013 10:44am

Any idea how long its been there?

Palmach · 04-09-2013 11:29am

colm_mcm wrote: »

Any idea how long its been there?

It was there for a week. In reality it was ore Irish people getting offended because they thought Yanks ould be offended.

golden8 · 04-09-2013 12:51pm

Surprised that they can move so quick when they want to. Why can they not move so quick to do the litter collections they are supposed to do in Fanore beach etc.

Palmach · 04-09-2013 1:09pm

golden8 wrote: »

Surprised that they can move so quick when they want to. Why can they not move so quick to do the litter collections they are supposed to do in Fanore beach etc.

Same in Kilkee. The shelters along the walks in Kilkee were covered in graffiti yet for years the Council have done nothing. They then painted out the mural and in a move that shows what a bunch of shleeveens they are they painted over the graffiti in the shelters. Administration by complaint.

handlemaster · 04-09-2013 2:19pm

what americans.. ??? how many ? who cares what unknown unnamed people from another country think. This must be a PR stunt. The council cant be that weak minded.

Palmach · 04-09-2013 2:23pm

handlemaster wrote: »

what americans.. ??? how many ? who cares what unknown unnamed people from another country think. This must be a PR stunt. The council cant be that weak minded.

Actually rumors are that a summer home owning Barrister complained and threatened various dire legal consequences. Some minion in Áras Chontae and Chláir heard the word barrister and shat themselves with fright.

golfball37 · 04-09-2013 4:05pm

I would say that 90% of Americans don't know who Che Geuvara is and the other 10% the majority know he never did anything to America.

This was an Irish person seeing a problem where there wasn't one and nothing else.

Should Arsenal tear down the Emirates staudium because it was built by the Bin Laden group?:(

[-0-] · 05-09-2013 11:30pm

If I was living back home I'd go paint another one.

handlemaster · 06-09-2013 9:04am

[-0-] wrote: »

If I was living back home I'd go paint another one.

like the old lady in Italy with her fresco !!

pilate 1 · 06-09-2013 11:30am

Should Arsenal tear down the Emirates staudium because it was built by the Bin Laden group?:([/QUOTE]

off topic i know but YES!(they might eventually win something:)

Johnboy1951 · 06-09-2013 12:09pm

I hope someone paints 10 for every one they remove!

fryup · 06-09-2013 1:01pm

his heart was in the right place

but his methods were a bit psycho/sadistic

Lady Chatterton · 12-09-2013 8:01pm

Another mural of Che Guevara has been painted to replace the one that the council painted over.

http://www.clarechampion.ie/index.php/kilkee-rebellion-backs-che-mural/

Johnboy1951 · 12-09-2013 8:43pm

Good on 'em ..... hopefully there will be many more in the coming week or two!

Shapey Fiend · 14-09-2013 12:30pm

I don't really see the artistic merit in this anyway. It's just a stencil you could throw together in 15 minutes. I know the image was made by a man from Kilkenny (I think?) but it's gone past the point of iconic to cliche. If I never saw it on a t-shirt or college students wall again I wouldn't miss it.

golfball37 · 14-09-2013 5:43pm

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

I don't really see the artistic merit in this anyway. It's just a stencil you could throw together in 15 minutes. I know the image was made by a man from Kilkenny (I think?) but it's gone past the point of iconic to cliche. If I never saw it on a t-shirt or college students wall again I wouldn't miss it.

He drew the picture in Kilkee, which is something to promote regardless of politics imo

Palmach · 22-09-2013 8:56pm

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

I don't really see the artistic merit in this anyway. It's just a stencil you could throw together in 15 minutes. I know the image was made by a man from Kilkenny (I think?) but it's gone past the point of iconic to cliche. If I never saw it on a t-shirt or college students wall again I wouldn't miss it.

It was not a stencil.

TommiesTank · 22-09-2013 8:58pm

Don't really understand why there was a mural of a terrorist to start with. Maybe that's what you should be asking?

Johnboy1951 · 22-09-2013 11:01pm

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter!

TommiesTank · 23-09-2013 6:54am

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter!

Tell that to his victims. They didn't see much freedom.

Palmach · 23-09-2013 10:12am

TommiesTank wrote: »

Tell that to his victims. They didn't see much freedom.

I despise communists as much as the next fella but Che was not a terrorist. He did go around blowing things up. He was a guerilla fighter.

Kess73 · 23-09-2013 10:17am

Mod Post: Keep the thread on topic or it gets closed.

The topic is the mural and not what Che Guevara may or may not go down as in history.

Balagan · 23-09-2013 1:42pm

golfball37 wrote: »

He drew the picture in Kilkee, which is something to promote regardless of politics imo

If you are referring to Jim Fitzpatrick, he made the image in 1968 quite a number of years after meeting Che Guevara in Kilkee. The image is based on a photograph taken in 1960 in Cuba by a Cuban photographer. The Kilkee connection is very tenuous at best but, sure, these are hard times!

Palmach · 23-09-2013 4:59pm

Balagan wrote: »

If you are referring to Jim Fitzpatrick, he made the image in 1968 quite a number of years after meeting Che Guevara in Kilkee. The image is based on a photograph taken in 1960 in Cuba by a Cuban photographer. The Kilkee connection is very tenuous at best but, sure, these are hard times!

He met Che in Kilkee which was Che's only Irish visit. The photo was Guerillo Heroic by Alex Korda.

Balagan · 23-09-2013 7:43pm

Palmach wrote: »

He met Che in Kilkee which was Che's only Irish visit. The photo was Guerillo Heroic by Alex Korda.

The compulsory stop over meant that a lot of people came whether they wanted to or not!

Nice piece here, with video, from RTE last year about the September 1963 visit to Kilkee. http://clarelibrary.blogspot.ie/2012/02/che-guevara-in-kilkee-september-1961.html

The above piece refers to him being on a stop over in Ireland more than once and the late Arthur Quinlan, the Limerick journalist who wrote for The Irish Times, recalls interviewing him at Shannon Airport in March 1965 following which Che Guevara visited to Limerick. http://www.irlandeses.org/quinlan.htm

Palmach · 24-09-2013 3:16pm

Balagan wrote: »

The compulsory stop over meant that a lot of people came whether they wanted to or not!

The plane couldn't take off and the only place to get a hotel was Kilkee. I remeber the Ennis to Kilkee road back then and the journey must have brought him back to the jungles of South America.

SpaceTime · 24-09-2013 3:17pm

handlemaster wrote: »

like the old lady in Italy with her fresco !!

She was Spanish and she's now making a good living as a famous artist and minor celeb.

mitosis · 24-09-2013 3:21pm

When does graffiti become a mural then? You want the CC to paint over the ones on the bus stops but not the ones on gable ends?

Shapey Fiend · 24-09-2013 6:54pm

They said in the Clare People today that a couple of new murals have popped up on private property in the town since.

mitosis · 24-09-2013 7:32pm

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

They said in the Clare People today that a couple of new murals have popped up on private property in the town since.

Bet it wasn't done by or with permission of the owners

Che Guevara mural removed, offends American tourists

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