Valpaíraso Graffiti Tour

Sunday was our second day in La Viña del Mar, Chile. Our first activity for the day was traveling to Valpaíraso, a neighboring city, for a walking graffiti tour. Our tour began in the Plaza Sotomayor with a brief history of the city. We learned that the beautiful blue castle-like building located in the plaza is currently Navy Headquarters of the Chilean Navy and is called El Edificio de la Comandancia Naval.

El Edificio de la Comandancia Naval

We then continued the tour by going to the top of one of the hills in Valpaíraso and then walking down through the streets and seeing and learning about the graffiti.

In Valpaíraso, we learned that although graffiti is technically illegal, it is “legal” to paint on a building with the owner’s permission. I also asked the tour guide what happens if someone paints over someone else’s artwork. He said that it is very disrespectful and even can be dangerous to do so. He also said that people who paint over other people’s art without permission are called TOYS which means “tag on your stuff”.

Emily Helenius (left) and Sarah Bondar (right)

Claire Newman said her favorite piece was the mural on Hostal Acuarela by the street artist that goes by the name of Mono Type. The story behind this mural is that a couple coming to Valpaíraso for a graffiti festival had nowhere to stay and made a deal with the owner of the hostel to paint a mural for the hostel in exchange for a place to stay.

By Mono Type

One of my favorite pieces from the tour was a painting of an elderly lady painted by Ella and Pitr, a couple from France. The couple has a European style of graffiti. The European style of graffiti is known to use mostly black and white colors and occasionally some red as can be seen in this piece.

By Ella and Pitr

After the tour we had the opportunity to walk around and explore for a little and have lunch on our own. Hannah Kirby, Matthew Lawson, Emily Jansson, Claire Newman, and I chose to have lunch at a restaurant on a balcony that was highly recommended by our tour guides called Fauna. The view from the restaurant was incredible and Hannah said the lunch was one of the best meals she had eaten throughout the whole trip.

The three images above are of Valpaíraso

Valpaíraso is not like any city I have seen before. It is so unique and colorful, with graffiti artwork on every corner. I never thought of graffiti as an art until I got to see all these amazing paintings and murals everywhere with such intricate details, each having a meaning of their own.