ABSTRACT
Descending the hill from the world’s highest airport at El Alto into the valley that contains Bolivia’s capital city of La Paz, one encounters a dazzling array of political commentary. Concrete walls that spiral downwards to line the road and the facades of once-white buildings that cleave into the reddish rocky landscape DUHFRYHUHGZLWKJUD൶WLDQGZDOOSDLQWLQJ6RPHVORJDQVDUHVFUDZOHGZLWKOLWWOH consideration to legibility or visual appeal. Others are obviously more considered, featuring large, bold lettering, decipherable from metres away. These interruptions to the surrounding landscape feature the use of spray paint, masonry paint and even tar to deliver messages of hope, resistance and loyalty. Captions have included ‘Afuera USAID¶2XW86$,'µTodo va a cambiar’(YHU\WKLQJLVJRLQJ WRFKDQJHµLucho por La Paz¶)LJKWIRU/D3D]µTe Amo MAS¶, ORYH\RX 0$61 On entering the wealthier Achumani area of La Paz one may even encounter large-scale stencils, wheatpastes and sophisticated murals. But La Paz and indeed Bolivia as a whole is little known for its street art production. Maximilliano Ruiz’s book ‘Nuevo Mundo’ documents street art from across Latin $PHULFDR൵HULQJYLVXDOVIURPGL൵HUHQWVWDWHV<HWLWIDLOVWRFRQVLGHU%ROLYLD DPRQJWKHVHVHH5XL]6RMXVWwho produces street art in Bolivia? What does it achieve? And how?
