The walls of Santiago are filled with graffiti. But, in actuality, it’s art. Imagine being an artist and every wall in your city is your canvas. No building is immune to tagging. Building owners have taken the offensive position, rather than the defensive. In order to prevent tagging, building owners commission artists, who usually paint at night, to paint murals. The majority of the murals express the artists’ political philosophy, often ideas ignored by the local newspapers and politicians.
Taggers respect the art. No one tags murals. Just is not done!
Here are some of the best examples of Santiago graffiti:
More graffiti:
Valparaiso graffiti:
When you visit Santiago, while seeing the tourist sites, like Plaza de Armas or Cerro Santa Lucia, stop! look around and see what really makes Chile…CHILE.
I would like to introduce a remarkable lady I met at the Hostel International on Cienfuegos in Barrio Brasil:
Her name is Gerry Van Lankveld (g.v.lankveld@hotmail.com). Gerry is from the Netherlands. She is biking Chile and Argentina…solo. She has been on the road since Oct. 28, 2015 and traveled over 3,000 miles. See her photos and read her story at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/gogerrygo.
Gerry van Lankveld, biking solo in Chile and Argentina
