Murals Here! Murals There! Murals Everywhere!!

“Pintaremos hasta el cielo.” “We will paint until the sky.”-La Brigada Ramona Parra (BRP) Today, mural expert Sebastian guided students during a street art tour. Students were captured by the awe-inspiring display of murals on almost every corner of Valparaíso. However, the unique stories and history behind the vibrant murals were even more attention grabbing then their aesthetic qualities. Sebastian unpacked the complex meanings of prominent murals like the economic depression, the fisherman, love and hallucination, the tree of life, and justice. You will have to ask your child about these murals to get all of the details! Although in short, they represent a variety of issues that are being currently addressed such as the environmental disaster of big fishing companies in the southern Chilean town of Chiloé, the relationship between men and women in Chilean society, the interdependency of human beings and their locality, and the policies that further discriminate and marginalize the Mapuche (Indigenous people of Chile).

It is evident that the legacy of the original grassroots organization of BRP still lives to this day. BRP was a movement in which activists fought the brutal dictatorship of Pinochet through the use of murals. They would decide what murals to paint (indigenous rights, workers rights, right for women, anti-military repression etc.), then go out and bring the murals to life in clandestine. If caught, they would be punished severely and taken as prisoners. In other words, they used brushes as weapons to nonviolently fight an authoritarian regime backed up the CIA. Although elements of BRP are still evident in recent murals, they also possess other qualities that focus more on texture and abstract art. Hence, street art in Chile has evolved while still maintaining its roots by highlighting social justice issues. Students were engaged throughout the tour, asking insightful questions about the evolutionary process of urban art in Chile. Many were inspired by the murals and expressed integrating similar ideas in their own artwork!