Street art in Bogota

jill
Nov 17, 2019
3 min read

Updated: Feb 3, 2021

Slept pretty well...a MUCH more comfortable bed! It started off very cold, but got more hot as the night went on. Headed out early to go to the Bogota Graffiti Tour which started in Parque de los Periodistas (Journalist Park). Got there in advance, so I walked down the street to find a place for breakfast--Restaurante Balmoral--rib broth, scrambled eggs, bread, and hot chocolate (hot chocolate is a big thing here--the traditional way is with a chunk of cheese that you put into the chocolate).

Walked back up to Journalist Park to meet at a domed statue of Bolivar in the center. Lots of folks out walking dogs. I had read there was a big police presence in Colombia, but I didn't really see it until I got to Bogota. Here, there are armed military on street corners to keep things safe. It is a weird feeling...haven't seen anything like that since I was in Paris during the World Cup.

The Street Art Tour is led by Jay who is native Colombian, but lived in NYC for years, so his English is great. While not an artist himself (or so he claimed), he grew up around it in NYC. He taught us a lot about the meaning behind several of the pieces--most of which is political, especially about the "false positives." More info on that later. He told us that Bogota is one of the top 10 graffiti cities in the world. We also learned about the "Bogota Collective"--the top 4 artists here: Lesivo, DJ Lou (who also happens to be a professor at University, but they don't know it), Guache, and Toxico Mano. Some of the other big names: Almiron/Teck 24 (the best letterer in Colombia) and a couple of pieces by guys who've done work in Atlanta (HOXXOH and Nychos).

Graffiti was illegal here until a few years ago. A young graf artist was throwing up a piece when the police came along and shot him as he tried to run away. Later, JUSTIN BIEBER (yes, that one) was in town and decided to throw up something...and the police ESCORTED him as opposed to arresting him. This angered the community so much that they rose up and demanded that street artists not be treated like criminals. Today, there is art EVERYWHERE, and is, for the most part, sanctioned by the city. So, thanks Justin Bieber I guess?

After finishing the tour, I headed to Museo Botero, but stopped along the way at a restaurant called San Felipe Candelaria to try ajiaco--a soup with chicken, rice, avocado, 3 kinds of potato, corn on the cob, and capers--a soup native to Bogota. DE-licious. Not a huge museum, but full of Boteros which was cool--especially the Mona Lisa. Also some other works by big names, including a great one called "Explosion in a Cathedral" by Max Ernst; the picture doesn't quite capture it.

From here, I took an Uber to Monserrate, or rather, the base of the mountain where the funicular (like the incline railway in Chattanooga) or cable cars (sky buckets) take you to the top. I got in the line which was rather long, as it was Sunday which is half price day. Finally got into the funicular and took the less-than-5-minute ride to the top--10,341 feet above sea level. Talk about getting winded! SO amazing up there. The views are incredible-you can see all of Bogota and an expanse of the Andes mountains. The clouds are so close (so are the airplanes)! I walked around for quite some time...a young girl was excited to discover I was American and kept trying to get her mom to come over and meet me. As I was waiting to go back down, I saw a sign "Guide to Lightning Protection"--I guess that a point this high would have that issue.

Came back to the airBNB via Uber, and gave some clothes to Maria to wash for me--she hand washes them! I petted Luna for awhile, then went to get snacks for dinner. Another great day! It rained overnight, which I could hear very loudly on the tin roof :-) Watched some Spanish version of the Carbonaro Effect and some other TruTV shows.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: