In walking around various neighbourhoods of Santiago I have noticed that there is a lot of graffiti/street art. Everything from inane tags to pretty amazing art. It seems especially prevalent in the more run down transition zones between nicer/more popular neighbourhoods — where the contrast of new and old is especially great. I’m sure there is a lot more to see, I looked up some more amazing examples on google and I heard it gets better further out of the downtown area. Here are a few examples I ran across.
This last picture shows a recurring theme. Areas of strong contrast between old/decrepit and new/clean.
That’s pretty badass graffiti. Any comments on the content? Environmental and anarchist themes? Berlin is covered in graffiti as well – I’ll post some once I get my bluuurg up.
There is definitely an anarchist and anti govt/police/repression theme to some pieces. There is a fairly active student protest movement which may be related. Environment and native (Mapuches) themes are evident as well. A few pieces seem to exist just to be seen and show the artist’s talent. There are also some more fun/silly ones with a less heavy message like ‘Don’t shop at supermarkets, go to your local produce store, eat healthy’.
If you’re up for a quick day trip head to valparaiso just 1.5 hrs fr Santiago to check out even more awesome graffiti and art!