Colombia January 2016 | Bogota Graffiti Tour

It's our final night in Bogotá. We've been here two days but I don't think we've managed to get more than 10 blocks from Casa Platypus, if that. It was great to arrive here on Monday and be welcomed and recognized. Maybe it's because we owe them money from our previous stay here but I don't think so. They were unable to process our credit cards when we checked out  almost three weeks ago, but no one seemed concerned that we couldn't pay. They're just adding the two bills together. I just cannot imagine this happening anywhere else—allowing us to walk away without paying, and catch up on it later!

The highlight of these two days, and perhaps the trip, is the Bogotá Graffiti Tour. It starts in the square just opposite our hotel, and lasts about two and half hours, on foot. Anne, our guide, was so well informed about the artists, their tags and marks, the collaborations, and the social and political issues that are the subject of most of the art. I can't tell you much about the various forms—I remember tags, bombing (?), free style spray paint with and without brushing, stencils, stickers and posters. I'm sure there's an expert out there who can fill in the blanks. There are masks and sculptures as well—a uni-cyclist hanging on top of a building, a man fishing from a perch above a doorway, his line hanging into the street. 

Graffiti isn't exactly illegal here: there is agreement with the government and police that it is an asset to the city, so artists are not punished in any way. Some owners hire the artists to paint their buildings or houses, as a means to support the artists, and to discourage tagging. The city invested in street art a few years ago, as a means to appease and support the artists after an unfortunate incident with the police and an embarrassing spectacle involving Justin Bieber and a Canadian flag. (Local artists agreed it should be covered over, so no, fortunately, there is no Canadian flag with a marijuana leaf in the centre on a wall in Bogotá.)

We have lots of photos. I'll leave you to imagine the city adorned with this amazing art. Or if you are really interested you can check it out online at Bogota Graffiti Tour. Many of the pieces are mural size, taking up as much as a whole block, and the streets are narrow and busy, so photographing the images is challenging!

This image by one of the few women doing this work in Bogotá

Stenciling; political commentary on the oil industry

An indigena from the eastern Caribbean area; one of the poorest in the country

About homelessness in Latin and South America; a bag covers his head to make him anonymous

I think this is stenciling; the lower left corner for sure

If you look carefully at the image below, you can see how it extends to the ceiling of the balcony to the right.

A Caribbean slave carrying a rich man and his treasures.  Shortly after I took this photo one of the women standing harnessed herself into the cart of garbage and hauled it away. It is 2016!

Designed graphically then paint-by-number by hundreds of artists; it's a block long

This is actually a stencil, designed and created in a studio. The artists do not have enough time to do all this work at the site, so they design on computer, create stencils using giant plotters, then employ their painting techniques on site. At least that is how I understand it.

There is a family of artists, father and two sons, we often collaborate on pieces. This is part of one of those. The two sons have unique styles. The one on the left is by the same artist as the bird high up on a building, that is shown above.

 Edward Snowdon: Hero or traitor?

Margaret has many more photos. I will try to get some of them posted when I get home.