Unseen But Not Forgotten

A mural that shines a light on the issue of family homelessness in Ireland has been unveiled in Dublin’s Temple Bar. It was created by street artist and activist Sarah Bracken Soper to raise awareness of the work and fundraising efforts of homelessness charity Focus Ireland.

Known for creating artwork reflecting social, cultural and climate justice issues, Soper’s artwork is designed to be thought-provoking and start a conversation around the urgent issue of homelessness in Ireland. Taking inspiration from the fact that family homelessness can often be an unseen issue, the piece features two women locked in an embrace, with one clearly visible while the other appears as a shadow. The figure that is ‘seen’ represents the empathy and generosity of the Irish public while the ‘unseen’ shadow figure embodies the mothers of the thousands of families trapped in hidden homelessness. The creation of the mural coincided with a ‘sleepout’ in Dublin highlighting the homelessness crisis and was featured on Irish news.

At present there are 2,099 families experiencing homelessness in Ireland, of which 4,419 are children. Many of these families are based in unsuitable emergency accommodation, where living spaces can be confined to one room. The effects of this crisis are deeply felt all year round, and every day spent without a place to call home takes away a child’s sense of security and belonging.

Speaking about why she was drawn to the issue of family homelessness Sarah Bracken Soper Sarah said: “I believe that the creation of art is an essential process in our understanding of the world, and a crucial tool for change and recovery. I hope anyone experiencing homelessness today in our society is able to draw some comfort from knowing there are many of us who care and are willing to take action.”

Jesse Wiesblatt of Focus Ireland explained why the scale and location of the mural in the centre of Dublin is significant: “We all hear the reports of rising homelessness figures, and there are certain aspects of homelessness that are visible. But what most people don’t realise is that the numbers reported on a monthly basis only reflect the number of people accessing emergency accommodation.

There are a lot of contradictory statements and misunderstandings in our current conversation about homelessness but at the centre of it all are people living alongside us, often unseen, in our society and communities who urgently need us to take action and support them.

“This mural, and the commitment of the thousands of people sleeping out against homelessness tonight, shows that we stand in solidarity with those affected. It is an issue that shouldn’t exist in our society today, and we should be doing everything in our power to bring homelessness to an end.”

This is the first issue- related mural to be installed in Temple Bar since artist Maser’s ‘Repeal’ heart for Ireland’s right to termination referendum in 2018.

Part of The Brill Building’s work on the creative and PR campaign Shine A Light for Focus Ireland and sponsor Bord Gais Energy, the mural it was produced from an image made with photographer Johnny Savage by the agency team of Creative Lead Peter Snodden and, Project Lead Eleanor McCarthy with campaign creatives John McMahon, Laurence O’Byrne, Shane O’Riordan, Gayle Briody and filming and post production with Luke Sweetman and David Christopher Lynch.

The Brill Building ECD Roisin Keown spoke about the ambition for the activation: "It was important for us that this mural could be something that would just appear overnight to gain maximum attention for this important issue. We want to encourage Ireland to quite literally wake up to the rising crisis in our society that is only growing in scale and the damage it is doing every day. The ambition to have a mural at this scale installed in just a few hours needed an incredible team to work through the night and we were so fortunate that as day dawned a beautiful golden sunrise helped emphasise the beauty of Sarah’s creation that we all want to be a beacon of hope for those in homelessness.”