THE community in the Lower Ravenhill area of East Belfast have designed a new mural to celebrate diversity in the local area, ahead a cultural night this Thursday at the Lagan Village Youth and Community Centre on Ballarat Street.
The mural which features several hands holding the earth with the words “Together the possibilities are endless” has been painted onto the side of the local Spar on Dunvegan Street. The local spar is also owned by the Ali family, and the cultural night is being held in honour of Mr Niamat Ali who ran the shop for 44 years before passing in May 2021, with the shop still being run by his immediate family.
Known to the community as ‘Mr Ali’, Niamat was extremely popular in the local area for his generous nature, and for his homemade curry which was always a community favourite. Originally from Pakistan, he moved to England in 1961 before moving with his family to Belfast in 1971 where he worked in local market stalls before opening his own shop in 1977.
Invitation for Mr Ali's Cultural Night
George Newell of Lagan Village Youth and Community Group said the new mural and cultural night would help to celebrate the growing diversity in the area, as well as pay tribute to Mr Ali and his family for the many years they supported the community.
“The mural portrays a more colourful and positive message of what the local community is all about now," he said.
The cultural night is being held in our centre on Ballarat Street and about 20 or so local children will be performing some Bollywood style dancing to music to celebrate the occasion. It’ll be a great occasion to celebrate the diversity within the community, and we’re delighted to be inviting Mr Ali’s family as special guests.
"There is a lot of diverse families in the area from all sorts of different backgrounds so we wanted to open our door to them and make them feel welcome in the community. With the pandemic over the last two years there hasn’t been the opportunity to welcome new families who have moved to the area. It’ll be a good opportunity for people to meet their neighbours and get to know each other.
"After the show there’ll be refreshments as well, so people can get themselves an excellent curry, and the chef making them is one of the best Indian chefs in Northern Ireland, so we’re hoping people will come down and enjoy the excellent food too.”
The festivities start on Thursday March 24 at 7pm.
