murals.

In both Lima and Cusco we were able to paint murals under the tutelage of Jorge Miyagui. Our initial plan was to paint over a mural in Villa El Salvador, but thanks to rain we ended up painting over a mural in El Averno (Spanish for hell), a space in Lima where the Mural Brigade often paints. Part of the Mural Brigade’s modus operandi is continual renewal – nothing is precious – hence the lack of concern for painting over other murals. Likely this perspective comes from experience in the public arena; murals with a political stance are often seen as contentious, and are thus painted over by local authorities. The bull, condor and lightning bolt were remnants of the old mural that we incorporated into our own. The prominent element of the mural is the female ekeko – an anthropologically impossible figure according to Jorge, but our aim was to challenge gender roles and expectations. That said, giving the “ekeka” a voluptuous figure seems to confirm these roles and expectations to a certain extent, rather than challenge them – however it has made the artists we’ve worked with (who are all men) think about such things. To the left of the “ekeka” is a rainbow (sprouting from coca leaves) that has a dual meaning. We all know the rainbow flag to signify gay, lesbian, and bisexual rights, which was our intent, but also the rainbow flag has flown in the Andes since the Inca Empire. It represents the four corners of the Inca Empire; presumably two colors represent each region – the north, south, Pacific Ocean, and jungle. We left a few signature marks, including the singing whale (Pacific Northwest) and our handprints in the clouds.

old mural we painted over

group in front of our finished mural

mural in El Averno

We painted two mobile murals in Cusco for Peru del Discurso a la Realidad, a group who seeks to critique current events and politics in Peru. The group displays images, quotes, critiques, and information in the main plaza of Cusco fairly regularly and the murals will be displayed along with everything else next time it goes up. That this is displayed in the main plaza of the country’s most touristy town is pretty impressive, and I hope tourists take the time to view the display and think critically about the information presented. Peruvian President, Alan Garcia and his relationship to the US of A (namely the Free Trade Agreement and neoliberal economic policies of and between both countries) are topics featured prominently in the display.

Given the discourse of Peru del Discurso a la Realidad, the two murals we painted in Cusco critique Peruvian policies and realities more so than our mural in Lima did. One critiques the extractive industries in the Amazon and the recent events in Bagua – trees and animals protest alongside an Amazonian tribesperson against the logging industry. The other mocks tourism by placing tourists in a reserve while llamas take pictures of the tourists and feed them “tourist” food (McDonald’s – which just opened in the main plaza a year ago, Starbucks – coming soon, pizza – way too ubiquitous in Cusco, Snickers, and other candy). I’m still suspicious that the woman resembles me a little too closely... long red wavy/curly hair, fair skin (hence the sunscreen on her nose), blue eyes would have been the kicker, but alas they’re green. PHEW. haha

I love the latter of the two murals, and will soon post about tourism. But, dinner beckons. And no, it will not be pizza.