Bogota’s Banksy? Political Graffiti from Colombia’s Capital
At first glance, dodging the ubiquitous mountains of dog shit, shattered glass and gamines (street people), this part of town feels decidedly unsafe and edgy and after a certain hour this is certainly the case.
But, taking a midday stroll while the students from 5 universities are on their lunch hour renders the Candelaria harmless and one can inspect with further intensity the high quality of political graffiti that adorns the walls of the birthplace of contemporary Colombia.
Just blocks from where the Conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada decided to rest and let his horses drink from the brook in 1538, one can find some real gems that go a long way in illustrating attitudes of students and graffiti artists in these politically charged times.
This series of photographs show the point of view and graphic prowess of one of these artists. With elections set for 2010, there will surely be more. My investigations have not revealed the identity of Juega Siempre beyond his MySpace page.
All photos courtesy of Richard McColl.
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8 Comments... join the discussion!
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Excellent photos!! Love the soldier shooting hearts.
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Thanks for the comments, there are other good ones that I have spied recently, in particular a hand grenade made to look like a pineapple and a Christ strung up on an AK47.
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I am impressed with the graffiti. I am off to Col in 2 weeks and I am definitely going to visit La Candelaria and will have the chance to have a look at them. Thanks for sharing the art.
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Great photos. Would love to see more if they are out there.
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I remember really liking the stencils in Bogota when I was there. I especially like the anti-Coke one — some Coca Cola factory workers in Colombia were killed a couple years back during a protest in which they were trying to unionize. It’s been all but forgotten here in the States, but glad to see folks are remembering in Colombia.
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Bogotá is full of amazing graffiti, some of the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world.
You’re right, that one wall in La Candelaria is a sight to behold. [And you're also right about it being dangerous - it's the only place I've been mugged during a year of budget travel throughout Latin America]
Wandering elsewhere around town you see a ton more stunning graffiti.
I think the city must sanction it, because at the bottom of some of them are logos of the municipality.Here was my blog post from Bogota – scroll to the bottom to see lots more photos of the graffiti:
http://thetechtable.net/blog/2009/04/24/big-city-bogota/↵ -
If im not wrong, the soldier that shoots hearts is a design by banksy. But other than that, great pics, although you should look up Excusa2 (excusados) i would consider them “Colombia’s Banksy”. They have more intricate designs and work in larger scales…
Cheers from colombia.
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