{"id":604440,"date":"2026-09-18T16:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/604440\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T16:08:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T16:08:23","slug":"nga-mihi-nui-artist-welcomes-graffiti-on-dunedins-ed-sheeran-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/604440\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ng\u0101 mihi nui’: Artist welcomes graffiti on Dunedin’s Ed Sheeran mural"},"content":{"rendered":"

The artist of a defaced Dunedin mural of an embattled pop star embroiled in controversy has offered his gratitude to the mystery tagger.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mural in Bath St of Ed Sheeran had the words \u201cfree Palestine\u201d stylistically added to the bottom corner of the mural, while faint red streaks were seen dripping down Sheeran\u2019s\u00a0chin and neck.<\/p>\n

The paint was still wet to the touch on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sheeran has been making headlines across the globe after he booted\u00a0American rapper Macklemore from his US\u00a0tour after Macklemore made pro-Palestinian comments during a concert in New Jersey this month.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The Bath St mural of Ed Sheeran has been vandalised with a splatter of red paint and the words “free Palestine” written at the bottom. Photo: Gerard O’Brien <\/p>\n

The artist of the mural, Tyler Kennedy Stent, said \u201cNg\u0101 mihi nui to the person who wrote \u2018Free Palestine\u2019\u00a0here\u201d.<\/p>\n

“Being born in South Africa, I am particularly conscious of the role international pressure played in challenging apartheid.”<\/p>\n

He said the\u00a01981 was a \u201cpowerful example\u201d from history of people refusing to accept\u00a0sport, culture and politics could simply be separated when fundamental human rights were at stake.<\/p>\n

“I believe the same responsibility extends to celebrities and others with public platforms and influence.<\/p>\n

“To remain apolitical in the face of serious human rights violations . . .\u00a0is not neutral;\u00a0it enables the status quo to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

He implored the Dunedin City Council and the building owner to consider the words \u201ca valuable collaborative component of my mural and leave them be\u201d.<\/p>\n

On social media this week, Macklemore said he was dropped from the tour after billionaire Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, rallied other stadium owners and told Sheeran he would not be allowed to play in their venues if the rapper stayed on the tour.<\/p>\n

In his own post, Sheeran said venues for upcoming tour dates warned they would pull the shows if Macklemore stayed on.<\/p>\n

\u201cMacklemore coming off tour was the promoter\u2019s decision, it was not mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheeran said he respected Macklemore\u2019s \u201cstrength of purpose to \u200cstand \u2060up and shout for what he believes\u201d, but he did not use his \u201cprofessional platform for politics\u201d.<\/p>\n

All the remaining support acts on Sheeran\u2019s US tour have since quit in solidarity with the rapper.<\/p>\n

A council spokesperson told the Otago Daily Times earlier this week it acknowledged the strong public sentiment surrounding Sheeran, \u201cbut we never condone the vandalism of our public street artworks\u201d.<\/p>\n

laine.priestley@odt.co.nz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The artist of a defaced Dunedin mural of an embattled pop star embroiled in controversy has offered his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604441,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-604440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}