9/21: Bogota's Engrossing Graffiti Tour & Politics in Colombia

After seeing so many interesting examples of graffiti on our Bogota Walking Tour a couple of days ago, we were curious as to what we would see and learn on the Graffiti Tour today. While waiting for the tour to begin at the Parque del los Periodistas or Journalists’ Park, it was fun watching people.

It was amusing seeing people buy some ‘Big Bottom Ants’ from some enterprising vendors who knew the tour was about to begin. Certainly not our cup of tea but to each their own. I could only think of episodes on both Amazing Race and Fear Factor where contestants had to eat all sorts of similar delicacies!

Jay, our guide, for the next few hours said he’d been born here in Bogota but grew up in NYC and Miami before coming home about 13 years ago and ‘being on vacation ever since' and intention of leaving again. He said most of our tour would take place in La Candelaria, the historical section of the capital. He said our only enemy would be the traffic as pedestrians have no right of way and therefore to exercise caution when crossing streets!

Seventy to eighty percent of the graffiti was actually tagging and done by football (but soccer to American and Canadian) fans coming out in support of their teams. Most graffiti artists, Jay explained, started out as taggers. A group called the Night Crew was commissioned by the city and the school board to paint murals on all the schools. 

The hostel owner paid the artist, a former tagger who subsequently attended college to study art and now teaches the subject, to paint this beautiful facade of a colonial view of Colombia. Jay told us doing that not only improved the appearance of the building but also helped to weatherproof it because of the prep work involved and thus enhanced the property value. As La Candelaria has just been certified as one of two historic areas in the city, the area was being restored so Jay suspected that in the next two years all the murals will be painted over. Already eight have been removed.

Jay remarked this mural was painted by an indigenous artist, Rodez, considered to be the grandfather of street artists in Bogota, as he’s been painting in the city for 30 years. Rodez is known for his multicolored eyes and many abstract lines in his paintings.

Jay said the salon on the corner provided free haircuts before 10 on Wednesdays as long as the stylists were able to choose the haircut. Don’t think I would have been confident enough to accept that challenge. Would you?!!

The mask was painted by an Australian artist living in Bogota for the last seven years. He is known for his sculptural work and Star Wars art throughout the city.

This graffiti artist, Max Thiel, was known for his comic books and images seen on many products. Jay described Thiel as more of a sculptor than an artist, using layer upon layer of concrete and sand to release the color from inside. 

I wasn’t sure what this image was until Jay pointed out it was of a break dancer spinning upside down. I wonder if you could tell?

Jay told us Ciclope, an artist who’s drawn floral murals all over South America, was responsible for this work he did three years ago. The store hired a body artist to paint the mural on the willing woman’s body – sort of like the central female character in the TV show, Blindspot, I imagined. As you might imagine, a huge traffic jam ensued!

This had been declared a protected street by the city so Jay anticipated that all the murals on the street would be destroyed within two years. How sad as they added such vibrancy and soul to the area.

The APC group, sometimes known as the Animal Power Crew, was the largest group of graffiti artists in the city. They are headed by the Rodez family of painters. We had earlier seen the father’s work but this also done by his two sons. 

Jay spoke movingly about the battle - yes, that was the word he chose - between the city and graffiti artists or taggers. City officials have received a lot of bad press about their efforts to eradicate the art, much of which was done when building owners either asked their walls to be painted or agreed to the artists’ requests to paint them. The positive spin was that the city will run out of money to paint over walls at some point, especially when muralists often paint them again the next day anyway. 

Jay questioned what architectural merit the white building had to also warrant it being chosen by the city to receive special status and therefore for its murals to be removed. We could only agree with him as nothing appeared that remarkable to us! As Jay succinctly put it, ‘Go figure!’

A foundation gave the artist money to purchase the concrete for this work who adds to it at regular intervals. This was my least favorite work on our tour.

Our Walking Tour guide had referred to this street as Chicha St. a couple of days ago but Jay told us it was actually called Funnel St. because of the shape of it. The cobblestones on it were more than 500 years old. All the amazing art will be removed here because the city considered this pedestrian-only lane of historical importance. 

This very moving image of a Muisca or indigenous leader was created by an artist who no longer lives in Bogota but added to it every time he returned. However, since it’s been tagged or defaced twice and the artist redid it, he has since stated he will no longer paint over any additional tagging as the city will remove it in time anyway. We had admired the painting when we had passed by it on our previous times on the street but knowing more about it thanks to Jay gave me at least a deeper appreciation of it. It was sad to think that the city wouldn't commission the artist to paint a work that could be displayed in one of the museums and then appreciated by everyone.

While on Funnel St. where there were lots of head shops and the like, Jay talked about coca leaves and cocaine being two very different substances. He mentioned that women living in the Amazon region have the lowest rates of osteoporosis in the world, presumably because of their chewing coca leaves. He added that women in the last stages of pregnancy chew coca leaves to choose their date of birth as it speeds up the onset of labor. I was confused by these statements because I had understood earlier that only men chew coca leaves and also why pregnant women could chew coca without risking inducing labor too soon.

Chris, the Australian artist specializing in animals, was hired to paint the exterior of this hostel. How could anyone not smile and think happy thoughts when spotting this wall?!

Notice the bare plaster on the left? Two ornaments were taken down and now must be adorning someone’s home, Jay joked!

One of the things I loved about Bogota is the whimsical art you could see, not just at eye level, but also when you craned your head and looked up! Nowhere else in the world have we had a reason to look skyward for art. Surely city officials won't also destroy all the 'green people watching from above,' too, in some sort of distorted view of progress?

Jay remarked it was the policy of the graffiti tour guides and their company to financially support the artists, something we were glad to hear as we’d never come across any other walking tour company ever give back to their local communities. Permission to paint this wall at the end of Funnel St. was given by the city but either I don’t think Jay mentioned why or I can’t remember why permission was given here as opposed to other walls. 

The alley just off Funnel St. had long been an area for muralists or graffiti artists. Each time the city sent out a crew to paint over the murals, this face was the only one never touched. Thank goodness, one city employee came to his senses and exercised good judgement. Perhaps it was because he liked the face so much. 

This 470-year-old building in the Plazoleta del Churro Queseda was the oldest one in the square and was where the future city of Bogota was founded by the Spaniards.

Jay remarked how the Niño weather phenomenon has been wreaking havoc in Colombia and especially for its farmers who have been affected because they haven’t been able to grow crops. This should have been the height of the rainy season but the day was gloriously warm and dry.

Jay talked about seventy percent of the world’s emeralds still being in the ground in Colombia and also a considerable amount of gold still, too. He added that to extract gold from the mines, mercury must be pumped in which affects the water supply of the nearby indigenous people. 

It seemed exceedingly odd that this blue ‘colonial’ apartment building parallel to Funnel St. was also designated by the city as meriting heritage designation and that its murals were also painted over. 

Jay pointed out several local restaurants that we should eat at as this was known as the foodie area. 

There were great food stalls behind these old train cars, according to Jay. I couldn't help but think what an exciting place this would be to catch a bite.

Jay commented that there were a staggering 70 hostels in the La Candelaria neighborhood alone! Artists could stay in this one for a reduced rate.

Jay talked about Gaitan, the Socialist leader who was killed just prior to the 1948 national election. There followed a massive uprising, known as El Bogotazo, in which many national institutions were destroyed and 2,500 people were killed. This painting was not an homage to the leader but to the violence that ensued during the riots.

Here graffiti writers used the old style of writing including bubble blocks and what Jay referred to as a wild style.

These artists subsidized their work by owning their own paint store which was patronized by other artists. 

There were no gangs in Bogota per se but rather soccer hooligans tagging over murals and doing pointy letters, not very creatively in Jay’s opinion. 

While we all sat on a curb, Jay talked at some length about the legalities of graffiti in Bogota. He stated that it was still considered illegal unless artists received permission. The police had the discretion to issue $80 fines if they wished and depending on how the artists communicated with them. He conveyed how the police murdered three graffiti artists at night, one of them only 16 years old who was shot in the back. Fourteen officers were involved in the cover up of that latter murder which captured national attention. No one was ever convicted of the crime because of the statute of limitations. The police officer who tried to tell the truth about what happened to the young artist was attacked twice.

Because of the violence against graffiti artists by the police, the city was beginning to decriminalize graffiti and, to some extent, support the graffiti artists. Jay commented that the artists were now painting during the day as it was safer, they could see better and the nighttime temperatures adversely affected the quality of paint. During the day, too, artists could identify themselves as artists to prospective clients.

However, Jay explained that there was a new police code and a new sheriff in town, i.e. a new mayor who hated graffiti artists and their work. The new police code gave police permission to enter homes without a warrant. There was a big issue about how police and the city could determine what was artistic or not. The mayor had recently gone around the city and had painted over graffiti. For artists, there is always a huge amount of prep work first before actually putting graffiti on the walls including painting the walls one solid color. So, with the city painting the walls, that has saved the artists a huge amount of time and money they would normally have spent!

The mayor ironically then listed on his Facebook and Twitter accounts where his staff had painted the solid walls. That just made it much easier for artists to decide where they would paint next! Bogota is considered one of the top ten places in the world for street art. There were several other graffiti tours we could have taken, Jay said, including one ironically offered by the city who has worked so hard to destroy graffiti and make the artists’ lives pretty hellish! Berlin’s graffiti tour was ranked number one in the world because of the volume of visitors. 

Artists had painted a wall on this block illegally and then six more legally when they were asked by the neighbors to do more when they had liked what they had seen. Aerosol spray cans had been used with different caps to create both fine and horizontal designs while the artists stood on scaffolding. 

Jay commented it was common to see hummingbirds in graffiti pictures as there are 40 different species in Colombia, the second most bio-diverse country in the world after Brazil.

Jay mentioned this was one of the top two restaurants in the city: it had the perfect combination of Colombian ingredients, French preparation and Colombian portions, i.e. easily enough for two people!

At the end of the block where the lion and hummingbird image was, was one of the most intriguing pieces we’d seen so far on the tour. It was the image of the cat, part of which was on the pole! 

We had to stand in the perfect spot to see part of one of the cat’s eyes had been painted on the pole! Otherwise, the eye was distorted and out of whack as it was here. Hint: Look at the second picture below! 

The artist had painted an ‘X’ across the street so people knew where to stand to get the perfect angle but the city had painted over it! Jay joked that the project took an unusually long time to paint because adjacent restaurants had provided free food for all the artists and thus they had no incentive to hurry!

Jay explained that this was a ‘spontaneous wall’ which meant that some artists started at one end and others at the other and they met in the middle. The whole wall was so fabulous, it sure didn’t appear that there was any disconnect between the painters from either side. 

Neighbors stood in support of the graffiti artists and brought out breakfast and paints for them. Jay laughingly said it was no wonder it took the artists a long time to paint the wall since they were being compensated like that!

The figure at the botoom of this cultural space painted by two brothers reminded me of the drawings in Maurice Sendak's book, 'Where the Wild Things Are.' 

Jay asked us to look closely at this wall as the female artist, who paints all over the continent, had used a special type of gray paint that shone when car lights hit the wall. I wish we could have seen the magnificent mural at night!

With a view of Monserrate in the background, Jay stated the record for running up the hill was a mind-boggling 18 minutes! We had taken the funicular up because the trail was closed for maintenance that day; well, really because we were too lazy! He added that pilgrims ‘walk’ up the hill on their knees as a form of penance. I could only marvel in admiration about the faith they must have.

This was the longest mural we’d seen yet. I loved the colors even though it didn’t have the political and social commentary inherent in most of the other murals we’d seen. Jay indicated that the wall was part of the English Institute who supported the wall being painted. This was the only place on our tour where very expensive anti-graffiti paint had been used on the wall to prevent tagging.

After telling us at the beginning of the tour to be so careful when crossing the streets because of the dangerous traffic, there was Jay stopping traffic on our way downtown by standing in the middle of the intersection holding his hands up and telling us all to hurry up and cross! Luckily, nothing happened each time he did this and the normally, horn-happy Bogota drivers refrained from honking at those times.

A graffiti tour in Bogota without discussing Justin Bieber's ‘contribution’ to art would certainly be incomplete. Six years ago, he got into trouble in other cities in South America painting graffiti. Jay got a good laugh from the crowd him by saying Bieber ‘wasn’t an artist at all and especially not as a graffiti artist!’ While in Bogota on his tour, Bieber, escorted by camera crews and the police, painted a wall. This was the same police department responsible for shooting and beating artists! One hour later, two artists painted over Bieber’s ‘art.’ The police chief attempted to defend the department’s actions supporting Bieber by saying Bieber was just trying to express himself, the inference being that graffiti artists weren’t also expressing themselves through their art! Real artists protested loudly the department’s having turned a blind eye to Bieber. 

These incredible works were done by DJ Lue (spelling?), an artist and well-known archaeology professor.  When giving interviews, Lue always wears a mask, Jay said, so the university doesn’t find out of his sideline preoccupation. I could only think that Lue must be his artistic name as otherwise the university would have discovered his illegal graffiti activities long before now. Or perhaps more likely, they have just turned a blind eye to it.

The image about child labor was a commentary about a young child selling fruit and the city’s new police code trying to recoup space taken by the vendors who didn’t pay any taxes. Vendors only earned an average of a piddling 300 pesos a month – about a hundred bucks – yet the police officers were often fining them one third of that. Not only did they levy fines, lots of corrupt police officers have now been taking all the vendors’ fruit, vegetables, etc. from their carts. This is in a city, mind you, where there were hundreds and hundreds of street vendors everywhere you looked. Even the director of the Anti-Corruption Unit was recently fired for corruption! The system was so completely corrupt, Jay concluded. 

The works in the downtown area were far more political in nature than those in the La Candelaria area. Anytime political graffiti went up in that section of the capital, Jay remarked it was "immediately painted over." But since, that only comprised 10% of the city, political graffiti artists had many other locations to express their views. I put the word 'immediately' in quotation marks because that statement contradicted what he said earlier about graffiti being removed in La Candelaria.

I believe Jay said Lue always signed his work the same way and that it meant 'Always remember,' i.e. take note of what's happening around you.

The APC crew, was headed by Stinkfish, the most successful (graffiti?) Colombian artist. He was commissioned to paint a wall in Cambodia of all places and even painted designs on someone’s Lamborghini! Stinkfish was the number one recruiter for APC which had 60 national and international artists in the crew. 

This indigenous metamorphosis was painted by the APC crew who had had to receive permission from Stinkfish as this had been ‘his’ wall for two years. One hundred social, cultural and indigenous leaders were assassinated in Bogota (or possibly Jay meant Colombia?) in 2016, compared to 49 so far this year. Jay stressed the importance of social media to document police action.

Jay pointed out that a female artist from Quito, a 90-minute flight away, created this high-quality piece. 

Guache was a warrior protector who was defamed by the Spanish conquerors. Sadly, a common expression used was ‘Don’t act guache’ or stupid. The practice of one person carrying another in Colombia was brought over by slavery when slave owners were carried by slaves on their backs. Jay commented on the parallels with the Sillisteros and their gorgeous, huge flower displays carried on their backs during the annual flower festival in Medellin. This image was an indictment against improper tourism in indigenous areas where tourists ask to be carried on the backs of others and the ‘poor man carrying the rich man being led to a new life represented by birds.’ I shudder to think it was American tourists the artist was referring to.

DJ Lue’s wall and his anti-war and blatant anti-consumerism and consumption were represented by the ATM machine, the cocktail and the pineapple/grenade. An avant-garde American shoe company liked part of the image so much that they are now using it on their shoes or (marketing?) so DJ gets royalties on each pair of shoes sold!

Jay changed gears again and talked about President Clinton’s Plan Colombia which was designed to pay for each member of the guerrillas that was killed or captured by the Colombian police force. I am sure it was drawn up with the best of intentions but the Colombian police often rounded up homeless people, drunks, etc. and shot them because of the per head bounty. To camouflage what they had done, the innocent victims were often stripped of their clothes and dressed in rebel clothing with communist manifestos placed in their hands. Because the police were paid for each dead body, there were many innocent people shot and killed. The term for this was called a false positive, Jay indicated, something neither of us was familiar with in this context.

Jay decried the fact that 25,000 people have gone missing since 2012. Colombia’s civil war was the longest in history, lasting about 60 years, and it involved more than just the FARC, the Colombian guerrilla group most Americans are aware of. The government just recently negotiated a peace treaty in Havana with FARC and two other rebel groups. The Colombians, in a nation-wide referendum last year, voted against the treaty because they didn’t want the guerrillas to go unpunished as the treaty allowed. Jay and many other Colombians felt that the government hasn’t been as honest as it should be behind closed doors. He stressed that this just wasn’t his opinion but also that of the muralists, too.

He commented briefly on the economic situation faced by the homeless people of Bogota who had been paid by the city to collect recycled products and pick up trash. When the city ran out of money, the people began stealing metal manhole covers to sell to others. To stop this from continuing to occur, the city began replacing manhole covers with blue, plastic ones that say on them they cannot be recycled.

This image represented the double story of the coffee industry as coffee farmers are only allowed to sell their products to the coffee federation at a very low cost. The bags represented the coffee beans and not bags of cash. President Reagan was depicted with horns. The image showed that exploitation corrupts life.

The 2.5-hour tour was phenomenal and it certainly gave me a new way to understand and appreciate street art not only when we travel but also back home, too. I can’t ever imagine taking it for granted again and not often giving it more than a glance as I did before. The tour through Bogota’s considerable and impressive urban art had been a thrilling and eye-opening experience for me. 

In the post about our visit to Bogota's Museo del Oro, I mentioned how it was only after getting a notification from our bank about the cost for the two scarves I purchased, I realized that I had wildly misunderstood the cost! That was why we beetled back to the museum to return them directly after the tour. The woman below luckily remembered me but was firm that no returns were possible.

She said I could exchange them for something else in the shop and was a huge help in suggesting several possibilities. Fortunately, Steven and I really liked these baubles! We hope you will, too, Nina!

Next post: Bogota's beautiful Botanic Gardens later that day.