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Published: 29-08-2022
The street art in Bogota is one of the highlights of any trip to Colombia. In the Colombian capital of Bogota, a Graffiti tour is one of the most immersive experiences you can take part in. Explore the streets with their fantastic artwork, often political, always impressive. A few years ago, the graffiti on the streets of Bogota was once thought of in the same vein as cocaine, and police cracked down on graffiti artists hard. 2011 was a challenging year for these artists; police chased down and killed a 16-year-old artist when he was spray painting his signature Felix the Cat image. Your guide will tell you about police cover-ups, evidence tampering and how his parents and the street art community eventually got him justice. This was a turning point in street art history, and today, Bogota is one of the most street art-friendly cities in the world.
Graffiti, Bogota
La Candelaria, the most historical part of the city, showcases some of the best work from local and international artists like Ciclope (Argentina), Kiptoe (USA), Kike (Argentina), Amazon (Brazil), and Ericailcane (Italy). The art is spread throughout the area: on hostels, storefronts, parks, cultural institutes and even on the shipping containers that house the vendors of La Plaza de la Concordia, the oldest plaza in Bogotá.
La Candelaria
Bogota is a mix of colonial architecture and rich history, with street murals on every corner. Bogotá’s downtown area, including Avenida Caracas and Carrera 10, are the best spots to see big-format walls. In the last few years, the city has commissioned some of Bogotá’s tallest murals, with many reaching eight floors and up.
Bogota Street Scene
Macro murals, or murals that have been painted on several houses to create a single design, have popped up in the outer neighborhoods of Bogotá. Most of these have one focal point where you can view the mural as a whole. It’s being used as a strategy to bring color and opportunity to some of Bogotá’s low-income neighborhoods, and the secretary of Habitat has created some of the country’s most extensive murals. The first of the three completed projects was in the Los Puentes neighborhood, with 383 houses painted. The second was in El Consuelo with more than 500 houses, and the last, recently completed in Buenavista, has more than 700 houses.
Graffiti
Above the busy downtown streets are now tower murals from international artists like Mantra (France), Anis (Chile), Mamani Mamani (Bolivia) and Boa Mistura (Spain), as well as collaborative murals from local artists, like the 115-foot-high ‘El Beso de Los Invisibles’ on the side of a building at Calle 26 and Carrera 13a. Most are within walking distance from one another. Colombia is shedding its negative political reputation with a cultural and artistic renaissance to match any of its South American neighbors. Nowhere is this more evident than in the street art that adorns Bogotá’s walls and reveals the creativity of the capital’s graffiti artists.
Bogota Graffiti
The Original Bogota Graffiti Tour has been part of Bogota’s graffiti scene since 2011. Every day, there is one free tour in English at 10 am and private tours in Spanish, French, German, and English. We also offer Bike Tours, City Tours (graffiti districts and other city areas). Workshops also exist for those who want to jump into the world of aerosol. Think of the tours as a sort of urban experience, where the goal is for people to leave the time with a new way of seeing and understanding the city. The revenue is constantly reinvested in the community with the donations made by visitors and people who’ve enjoyed the tour. The tour has worked with local, national and international artists to create community projects across Colombia and other countries. Join a Graffiti Tour with Va Expeditions today and contribute directly to the culture of Colombia.
