In 2020, a

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

of footballer Marcus Rashford by street artist Akse P19 was painted in the Withington area of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, United Kingdom. The mural was created in recognition of the work Rashford did during the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confir ...

to help tackle child food poverty. After Rashford had missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final in July 2021, the mural was vandalised, prompting locals to post messages of support for Rashford before its restoration.

Description

Based on a photograph by Daniel Cheetham, the painting of Marcus Rashford was completed in 2020 by street artist Akse, in collaboration with the street art project Withington Walls, to commemorate the footballer's work to reduce child hunger. The mural is a

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

portrait painting Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

, and appears on an exterior wall of Coffee House Café on Copson Street, near where Rashford was raised in

Old Moat Old Moat is a suburban area of Manchester, England. The population of its electoral ward at the 2011 census was 14,490. History Old Moat estate The "Old Moat estate" is a large estate of 1920s built social housing named after a former mano ...

. The mural's quote, which reads, "Take pride in knowing that your struggle will play the biggest role in your purpose", was taken from a letter published as part of a campaign with Burberry to fund youth centres.

History

Aske spoke with Rashford while completing the artwork in November 2020 and said, "I hope the mural will inspire the local community as he has inspired the whole nation with his campaign to fight child food poverty." To celebrate

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

in 2021, a close-up of the mural was featured on Google Street View.

Vandalism

The painting was vandalized with the words "shite in a bucket, bastard", "fuck

Sancho The name Sancho is an Iberian name of Basque origin (Santxo, Santzo, Santso, Antzo, Sans). Sancho stems from the Latin name Sanctius.Eichler, Ernst; Hilty, Gerold; Löffler, Heinrich; Steger, Hugo; Zgusta, Ladislav: ''Namenforschung/Name Studies/ ...

", and "fuck

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

" after those players and Rashford failed to score in a penalty shootout for

in the UEFA Euro 2020 Final, which meant

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

won the shootout 3-2. The Mayor of Greater Manchester,

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 ...

, described the mural defacement as a "despicable, shameful act". Ed Wellard, co-founder of Withington Walls, worked to cover the profanity immediately; residents created a collage of supportive messages, flags, and hearts across the artwork, and Akse restored the mural. On 16 July,

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

announced plans to preserve the items left at the mural following the vandalism. A representative of the council described the public's response as a "Manchester moment we will all remember and should not forget", and BT created a virtual replication of the messages named the "Wall of Hope". A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said, "While the content of the vandalism is not believed to be of a racial nature, officers are keeping an open mind as to the motive behind defacing the artwork". Hundreds of people participated in an anti-racism demonstration at the mural, leaving Rashford "lost for words". Rashford was moved by the messages of support. He shared images of the collage and tweeted, "The communities that wrapped their arms around me continue to hold me up... I can take critique of my performance all day long... but I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from." In October 2021, GMP released

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

footage of a hooded man within the vicinity of the mural at 23:40 BST on 11 July, who they believed may be responsible for the crime.

Reception

Bradley Ormesher of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' described the mural as "impressive" and "a real tourist attraction".

References

External links

'He's an inspiration': crowds gather at Marcus Rashford mural in Manchester – video
''The Guardian'' * , BBC News * {{cite journal , title=The Marcus Rashford mural – an anatomy of a moral panic , journal=

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...