The final brush strokes have been painted on a new mural in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville as part of the celebration of 200 years of Greek Independence.
The three-storey high artwork, featuring the patriotic slogan "Freedom or Death" (eleftheria i thanatos) emblazoned across the top, is located on Marrickville Lane near the Marrickville Post Shop building.
The mural was painted by Sydney-based, UK born painter and illustrator Ox King whose numerous additional works, that have been commissioned by the Inner West Council as part of its "Perfect Match Street Art" programme, can be found throughout the neighbouring Sydney suburb of Newtown.
There are approximately 375,000 Australians with Greek ancestry, making up the seventh largest ethnic group in Australia.
Whilst Marrickville is known to be a melting pot of different cultures and communities, the area owes much of this cultural diversity to the arrival of thousands of Greek immigrants in the 1950s and '60s.
So many Greeks made Marrickville their home during these years that Greek was the predominant language spoken in the suburb for much of the second half of the 20th century.
In recognition of this heritage and the cultural contribution of Greek migrants to the area, the Inner West Council officially renamed the corridor of Marrickville between Livingstone Road and Victoria Road as 'Little Greece' in March this year to coincide with the 200th anniversary of Greek Independence.
The mural is a fitting extension of these celebrations for the local community and an artistic statement about the greatness of the Greek cultural pride so widely shared in the area.
Read also: Marrickville Rd Precinct renamed as Sydney’s “Little Greece”
