Ardú Street Art project returned to Cork city this month, October 2021, with some of the country’s most exciting street artists to brighten up the city’s streets.

Ardú have commissioned artwork from home grown talent of the highest level with this year’s edition featuring four large-scale murals. 

If you walk today South Main street in Cork from Saint Finbarr's Road you will see the giant, gable end mural named “What is home?” completed by Dublin artist Asbestos. This artwork challenges the passerby to think about ‘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.

Artist Asbestos said of this work,“I painted this figure wearing a cardboard box on his head to start a conversation with the public about what home means to them. As a country we are currently in an existential crisis over housing and our need to put a roof over our heads. There’s a fear and uncertainty about finding a safe space, and the system seems to be stacked in favour of the landlords." 

The figure you can see depicted in this mural is a fictional version of the artist looking at the world with a naive view point. 

If you are familiar Asbestos' work you may already know that each of his murals represent different personas asking a different question. In this case ‘What is Home?’

Home, Asbestos says, "isn’t simply about where you were born, it’s where you feel you belong, where you feel safe, where you’re welcomed, where you can come back to and feel accepted, loved and part of a community. We seem to have lost sight of this recently because we’re so concerned about rent, mortgages or even having a home."

Painted over 8 days in the sunshine and rain, Asbestos said, "it was wonderful to speak to so many curious Corkonians about the mural. The support has been amazing from the public and my friends and family here, Cork definitely felt like my home for a week.”

Pat McDonnell Paints recognise the importance of supporting the communities within which it trades and are honoured to have been asked to support this initiative through the sponsorship of the paint used to create these beautiful works of art on the streets of Cork city.