The first murals in Oliena started to appear in the 1970s and, like most of the works from that period, have a strong critical political and social tone. One example of this is the work by Elisabetta Carboni and Diego Asproni in Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, in which the two artists depict the protests that erupted in opposition to the approval of the Enclosure Act in 1820.
Oliena also hosts murals with scenes of rural life, which celebrate the agricultural and sheep rearing activities as well as clearly folkloric murals. One example is the mural dedicated to Maria Palimodde, a work by Luigi Colombu, in via Carrera de Palathos, in which he pays homage to Mrs Palimodde who, each year, during the Festival de S’Incontru, would shoot four blank shots with a rifle from her balcony.
