The Graffiti Tour

Artwork - I like how they incorporated the door

Last Saturday we rented bikes and went on a Graffiti tour. Our guide, Carolina, had been a political science major and knew many of the stories behind the graffiti. Many pieces are political in nature, trying to make a point or protest an event. Some are tributes to a person, place or idea. Other pieces are simply fun and done for the artist's pleasure. The average time a piece will stay up is four months, though some of the more prominent pieces will stay up for as long as 18 months. Most of the artists sign their work,  some have web sites and a very few have used the graffiti to spring board to a full time art profession. These are some of the pieces we saw (I took over 100 pictures and I did not get them all) and for some, the story behind them.

These were some lumps and rocks sticking out of the house - or maybe purposely built in - and they painted around them. Notice the tree on the right side. Part of it is paint but part of it is a real tree growing up around the corner.

Not completely sure what this means, but I think it shows our fascination with war and fighting. What do you think?

"The food that we eat, the water we drink, all comes from the earth"

I love the cart and horse with the sleeping dog, in front of the graffiti. There are not a lot of horse carts in Bogota, but they are around.

This was one of our guide's favorites, It was done by a woman and talks about all the things she is and how she will not be changed or silenced by anyone.

Is it a camera or a cage?

This was done by a woman who gained world wide notoriety and now does art professionally.

The president was visiting a very poor area and in the midst of all the poverty he came upon this homeless couple kissing. He was so moved that he commissioned this piece, pictured below. It took four artists four days to complete.

We came across these being painted. There were about four artists working on it and it was fun to see how they did it all.

These two pieces were next to each other and represent two leftist political parties that about 20 years ago were eradicated. About 3000 from one and 3600 from the other were targeted and killed including all of the leaders in a sort of political genocide. If you look closely at the one below, you will see faces inside the silhouettes.

This is a woman who grew up in humble circumstances and began to crochet. Her work became very appreciated and highly valued. She then used her influence to "knit" her people together.

I just liked this one.

And this one

Finally, this was a political comedian - like John Stewart or Stephen Colbert. He was well loved and continued poking fun at the government until a rightist supporter assassinated him in 1999. 

There were many, many more. Plus we had the chance to ride our bikes through many different neighborhoods and probably lots of places we would not normally get to see. We rode the wrong way on the expressway and wiggling our way through crowded city streets. In all it was great and we hope to do it again or maybe take the historical bike tour. So until next week, when I think we will focus on a really cool service project that the school does. Cheers.