A proposed facelift to a Barrington Street building is causing a stir in Halifax. The owners of “freak lunchbox” think it’s time for the tall ships 2000 mural to be replaced, but not everyone agrees. Heide Pearson reports.
HALIFAX – A proposed face-lift to 1723 Barrington Street is causing a stir among some Haligonians.
The popular downtown candy store Freak Lunchbox put out a call on Facebook on Thursday night, looking for an established artist to paint a mural that will replace the Tall Ships 2000 one on the side of their newly-acquired building. Freak Lunchbox co-owner Jeremy Smith said he wants to put up new art that will represent the vibrant community his business is part of.
We’re looking for a more colourful, more contemporary piece of art, but with Freak Lunchbox paying the bill, we do have a requirement that there be a theme of either a circus sideshow, candy, or a freak theme,” Smith said. “And that can be very subtle, but first and foremost we’re concerned with it being a piece of art.”
The idea of replacing this mural has ruffled the feathers of some people, including the artist who painted it.
Zeqirja Rexhepi is an artist from Kosovo. He was commissioned to paint the mural for the Tall Ships Festival in 2000. For him, the mural is a piece of work he’s proud of, but it also represents a new chapter of his life.
“Tall ships was connecting, and the key why I am today here with all my family,” he said.
He looks at the piece of art as a contribution to Halifax’s history, featuring many of the elements that the city is so well known for.
“It’s good to keep the culture and heritage of Nova Scotia,” Rexhepi said.
The mural was painted on a series of panels, not directly on the brick. The new owners of 1723 Barrington say they plan to move the mural instead of painting over it. They are working with the Waterfront Development Corporation to find a new place to display the Tall Ships painting.
“We had always planned on creating a new piece, but we had also never planned on destroying the existing piece, so we are offering that up for a new home,” Smith said.
He bought the building with the plan to use the large exposed wall to show off the vibrant art scene in Halifax. He wants the new mural to be painted on the entire wall, covering the foundation, reaching back to the chimney and incorporating the existing brickwork.
Rexhepi first learned that his mural was going to be replaced when the call for artists was posted on Facebook.
“I was a little bit slap in my face, you know, establish artist? To do a mural, I was established artist,” he said.
Rexhepi’s son, Arber Rexhepi, has started a GoFundMe page to gain support for keeping the mural where it is, but ultimately it’s the decision of the owners of the building to keep it or move it.
Smith feels that he’s being respectful to the art and the community by putting a call out to get input from others in the city about what they’d like to see.
“It really is the colour and the happiness that brings people, keeps bringing people back down, so really it’s an opportunity for us to expand that feeling onto the exterior of the building,” Smith said.
It is still unknown where the Tall Ships 2000 mural will be displayed when it’s taken down.
Comments