One of my first impressions of Bogotá was the sight of vivid graffiti everywhere: shops, walls, bus underpasses, tower blocks, etc. Their vibrancies didn’t just dazzle the cityscape. But the messages through the street art also celebrated civil progress, I learned from one of these guy’s walking tours.
The guide—TET, a local street artist—walked us around and showed us some works including his own. However, the compelling stories behind them were examples of how arts could reflect on and pave the way for social change.
TET – Taller Entre Trópicos
The shooting and the cover-up by the police of Diego Felipe Becerra’s death fumed more dissidence and led to the decriminalisation of graffiti—the first in the world. (Now, I know what “1312” means. 1312 = ACAB = “all cops are bastards” or “all cats are beautiful”. In Diego’s case, it’s more of the latter since his tag was Felix the Cat.)
Like decent arts, these works reflected communities’ modern histories. One displayed the aspirations of vulnerable Indigenous girls. The salsa dancer work was commissioned to ease the conflict between Colombian and informal Venezuelan vendors on the street market. TET worked on the tale of emerald traders. And of course, rebellious voices were prominent.
These weren’t the best, TET flaunted about ones further out of the city. They were concrete enough on the social impact of public art on the community and the city. This article elaborated quite well. No wonder how the Bogotá street art scene was put on the world map.