“What is home?” asks new Asbestos mural for Ardú Street Art Project

Dublin street artist Asbestos has completed his newest mural titled, "What is home?" for the 2021 Ardú Street Art Project.

In this piece, Asbestos is asking, “‘What is home?’… Do you have one, is it safe, can you afford it? Never as a country has our sense of what home means been more at threat.”

The piece highlights Ireland's persistent housing crisis, an issue that continues to weigh heavily, with the 'Save The Cobblestone' protesters yelling, "homes not hotels!" through the streets of Dublin just this week.

Mixed media artist Asbestos is no stranger to portraiture that sparks conversation, with many of his pieces exploring the concept of identity that are a conversation with two versions of his persona.

“Each mask portrays two versions of myself, one alive and one dead. The dead version is a fictional character that represents me, if I’d been killed in a car bomb.”

The bomb Asbestos refers to was a real one that went off in Dublin 46 days before he was born, just five minutes after his mother walked past it.

"I've always been fascinated about the fact that I may never have existed," he muses.
The Ardú Street Art Project was born during lockdown in 2020 but has marked its return with some of the country’s most exciting street artists brightening up Cork city’s streets throughout October.

The 2021 edition features four large scale murals by renowned artists: Friz at St Finbarr’s Road, Shane O’Malley at Lower Glanmire Road/Horgan’s Quay, Conor Harrington at Bishop Lucey Park, and Asbestos at South Main Street.

View more of Asbestos' art here and read more about the Ardú Art Project here.

Ardú Street Art Initiative is made possible with generous support from Cork City Council and the Creative Ireland Programme - an all-of-government five-year initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which places creativity at the centre of public policy. Further information from creativeireland.gov.ie.