Graffiti in Latin America.

Latin America is a place filled with a enormous diversity between countries, some of these countries share a little bit the same problems. But their inhabitants aboard these problems in so many different ways. 

Art represents an important part of the human being, and as a communicative medium works too. There are so many artist, most of them not even recognized but this is not a problem for them to express their imagination and their ideas on the walls. This way of art - called vandalism too- is the graffiti. And in Latin America which is a region filled with social problems, and political issues the graffiti works as a weapon. Not to kill but to communicate.

Graffiti is present in almost all countries of Latin America, but this time I'll focus in some coutries that use graffiti in a very peculiar way.

Colombia: Maybe Colombia doesn't have the most recognized graffiti artists like Brazil or Argentina. But the way these anonymous artist express the daily Colombian problems is really unique. Said to be an unexplored heaven or a hell in Earth, the truth is that over the last decade Colombia have been passing throught so may changes. Political issues, social changes are all expressed in this graffitis, even graffiti itself is one of these changes. The Colombian bloody past influences in this too, there are so many things to express. Things that never have been told, that Colombians walls are starting to tell each one a different story of this magical but cruel country.

Brazil:  Known as the happiest country in the world, the land of samba and carnivals is not excluded of Latin American social reality, graffiti in Brazil express one of most not-known problems of this coutry. The inequality and poverty. Graffiti in Brazil, a real social weapon have been used since the 50's and 60's as a way of critisims for the Goverment, and graffiti artists are part of the Brazilian problems. Brazil have two of the most recognized graffiti artist, and their art is supportet by culture. However, despite the fame these artist still painting on walls and showing the reality of many people to the world. These artists are Os Gêmeos and Nunca

Argentina: In Argentina, more specifically in Buenos Aires the Argentinian capital, graffiti is a very valued artistic expression. In this concrete jungle every wall have a different story, stories created by people regardless their nationality or their ideas. Buenos Aires is a white canvas and it's wating to be painted. Graffiti used as a communication medium it's very common,  as graffitis used to create differents expressions of art are too. The only one restriction to paint a graffiti in Buenos Aires it's your imagination.

Honduras: Besides Argentina, Brazil or even Colombia, Honduras' present isn't clear at all. Corruption and violence are dominant in these days. Graffitis in Honduras are a real communitcation and criticism weapon.  Even these art expressions have created new movement of people protesting againts the situation. Tegucigalpa one of the most violent cities around the world it's experimenting the born of a new age of anonymous artists whom uses graffiti as way of protest. Making them be heared by the entire world, letting know the people the situation of their beloved country and what are they fighting for.

Bangkok's Cholos

If you go to Bangkok and find someone who belongs to this gangs you'll maybe be scared. But don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of.  The Bangkok's Cholos are nothing more than posers.

The truth is that these Cholos are the result of the lack of knowledge and the stereotypes that Thai People have about Latin Americans. They just want to look like bad guys, but the reality is totally different, these "gangsters" are more inoffensive than a kitty.

In so many interviews these people have revealed that they don't really appreciate the practice of the brutal violence. The only truth is that the Thai obsession with these groups is just a kind of taste with the aesthetic. Most of the men whom have been interviewed by some media were just captivated by "the clean style". 

These people don't really know what they're doing or what they're trying to imitate, the reality of a Latin Gangster goes further than tattoos or jewelry. The violence, the assassinations, drug traffic, mysogeny, poverty, and lack of opportunities to have a decent life are the reality of these gangsters. They´re not burocratics or rich people who want to look like bad guys. Thai People are portraying one of the worses aspects of Latin America culture. Making it seems like something cool when it isn't at all.

Racism in Colombia

This post is about the "DiscriminACCIÓN en Colombia" Video. You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiGKIO722HA

The racism in Colombia is an undercover problem. For a long time the Afro-Colombian community have been discriminated by different classes of the Colombian society. Racism is not common but still happening, there are widely known cases like forbidding the access to the black community to some places like restaurants or clubs. And some people often create stereotypes of them, saying that black people who live in poverty are always thieves or they're drug addicts. In addition, old and conservative people tend to reject or not accept them, treating Afro-Colombians like inferiors. However, this is not all the time and not all of Colombians do that, these problems happen in reduced and conservative sectors of the society. Furthermore, there are inclusion programs for black communities, and these communities also have been recognized by the government and their culture is considered as an important part of the Colombian diverse ethnicity.

Hi there!

 My name is Germán Rodríguez, I´m 17 years old. I study Electrical Engineer at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla and this is my blog for the intercultural comunication class. I'm from Montería Colombia. Through the last year I've learned that culture is different in every part of the world, even in the differents regions of a country. I hope to learn more about differents cultures, and make you to learn about my culture.