🇨🇱✨Tomorrow, Chileans will partake in a historic vote following a year of intense protest.
It’s time I finally did that thread of street art and graffiti in Santiago. Let’s go! ✨
It’s time I finally did that thread of street art and graffiti in Santiago. Let’s go! ✨
I first visited Santiago in September 2019 and returned in January 2020 to a completely different city.
3 months of protest had painted the city in powerful and sometimes heartbreaking graffiti. Especially in downtown, buildings are covered in it.
3 months of protest had painted the city in powerful and sometimes heartbreaking graffiti. Especially in downtown, buildings are covered in it.
It was the most obvious physical sign that something had happened here. As the saying goes, Chile despierto. Chile woke up.
[It wasn’t peace, it was silence]
[It wasn’t peace, it was silence]
The themes in this art echo people’s demands and hopes for this new era of Chile.
All over Santiago you see the words lucha, sin miedo. Fight. Fight like a dog. Don’t be afraid.
All over Santiago you see the words lucha, sin miedo. Fight. Fight like a dog. Don’t be afraid.
First theme. Piñera.
Sebastián Piñera has been president of Chile since 2018.
He is a literal billionaire and friend and/or relative of many of the most powerful (wealthy) people in Chile.
[Fuck Piñera, Piñera resign, Piñera your hands have blood on them]
Sebastián Piñera has been president of Chile since 2018.
He is a literal billionaire and friend and/or relative of many of the most powerful (wealthy) people in Chile.
[Fuck Piñera, Piñera resign, Piñera your hands have blood on them]
Walls around Santiago cry out for his resignation. He is called asesino, a murderer.
It was Piñera that sent military on to the street last year, declaring that he was “at war” with his own people. Here he is as monopoly man, capitalist rot at the centre of Chile, ready to fire
It was Piñera that sent military on to the street last year, declaring that he was “at war” with his own people. Here he is as monopoly man, capitalist rot at the centre of Chile, ready to fire
^^ The other mask on the ground is Michelle Bachelet. Previous president of Chile.
There’s a feeling in Chile that its leaders have sold the country out to extreme forms of capitalism since the 1980s.
There’s a feeling in Chile that its leaders have sold the country out to extreme forms of capitalism since the 1980s.
Piñera even your own mother doesn’t want/love you.
Which brings us to police brutality. Piñera’s heavy-handed response to the protests are called out all over the city.
Eyes have become a major symbol of police violence in Chile. They follow you around the streets.
Eyes have become a major symbol of police violence in Chile. They follow you around the streets.
There have been over 400 reports of eye injuries caused by Chilean police and military in the past year. Some people have lost both of their eyes to rubber bullets.
Santiago’s Museum of Memory and Human Rights, which documents human rights abuse during Pinochet’s regime, has this huge quilt of eyes hanging over a staircase in the building. It’s too big to fit in one photo! Each eye was created by a different person.
Indigenous rights.
The largest indigenous group in Chile is the Mapuche, a community that’s been fighting for its own rights and equality for years.
The largest indigenous group in Chile is the Mapuche, a community that’s been fighting for its own rights and equality for years.
The Mapuche flag on the right is at the forefront of every march and protest.
Mapuche colours have been painted onto the statue at the epicenter of Santiago protests.
Mapuche colours have been painted onto the statue at the epicenter of Santiago protests.
Camilo Catrillanca was a Mapuche man who was shot dead in unknown circumstances by the police in 2018.
His death caused outrage in Chile and people are still demanding answers and justice for him today.
His death caused outrage in Chile and people are still demanding answers and justice for him today.
Women.
Anything I write about women’s place in this social movement in Chile will be an injustice. Their place in protest art is crucial and infinite.
[For an Eden without abuse, without violence and without repression]
Anything I write about women’s place in this social movement in Chile will be an injustice. Their place in protest art is crucial and infinite.
[For an Eden without abuse, without violence and without repression]
Ni Una Menos.
Ni una menos is a huge movement against femicide and female related violence in Latin America. It means “not one woman less”,
It appears frequently alongside the names of women who have been killed or are missing in Chile. Photos from Valparaiso, South of Chile.
Ni una menos is a huge movement against femicide and female related violence in Latin America. It means “not one woman less”,
It appears frequently alongside the names of women who have been killed or are missing in Chile. Photos from Valparaiso, South of Chile.
La Culpa No Era Mia. It wasn’t my fault.
When protests started last year, Chilean feminist group Las Tesis wrote and performed this viral song. It’s a devastating but empowering song about rape, consent and the failures of justice.
When protests started last year, Chilean feminist group Las Tesis wrote and performed this viral song. It’s a devastating but empowering song about rape, consent and the failures of justice.
You see lyrics from the song scribbled on walls and hanging from balconies. You still hear it being sung all over Santiago.
It is now eternal and iconic.
It is now eternal and iconic.
In the other side of the same building:
Machismo kills more people than Coronavirus.
Machismo kills more people than Coronavirus.
Correction **** the ni una menos image is from Valdivia not Valparaiso!!!!
My brain is a dummy.
My brain is a dummy.
The green handkerchief is a symbol of feminist protest across Latin American countries.
It particularly stands for reproductive rights and came to major use during pro-choice marches in Argentina in 2018.
It particularly stands for reproductive rights and came to major use during pro-choice marches in Argentina in 2018.
There is a strong LGBTQ+ voice in lots of protest graffiti I’ve seen in Santiago.
“Invade the cis-tem”, “lesbian resistance”, a poster for advocating for “self care” by taking Prep and Tarv (which I think is the antiviral that makes HIV undetectable)
“Invade the cis-tem”, “lesbian resistance”, a poster for advocating for “self care” by taking Prep and Tarv (which I think is the antiviral that makes HIV undetectable)
El agua.
Water is mostly (completely?) privatized. In the Chilean countryside, access to water is often sold off to large wineries and farms- cutting residential properties and small farms off in the process. Creating a man-made drought.
[It‘s not drought, it’s a pillage]
Water is mostly (completely?) privatized. In the Chilean countryside, access to water is often sold off to large wineries and farms- cutting residential properties and small farms off in the process. Creating a man-made drought.
[It‘s not drought, it’s a pillage]
“Return the water to us, you rats” is just incredible.
And no thread of common themes amongst Chilean protest graffiti would be complete without matapacos. This thread explains him better than I ever could.
https://twitter.com/respectablelaw/status/1267211844646768644
The little black dog with a red bandana is all over Chile. He has become such a popular symbol of resistance, people even buy little red bandanas for their dogs to dress them up like him.
Sigue ladrando, keep barking.
Sigue ladrando, keep barking.
All of these things: eyes, Piñera, fighting dogs, water, indigenous rights, feminism, a new constitution.
It’s seen by many as a fight for dignity.
(@nicolasdeppe)
It’s seen by many as a fight for dignity.
(@nicolasdeppe)
From the fire comes dignity.
Until dignity becomes normal.
Until dignity becomes normal.
To feel like you’re respected by your own country. That you’re treated fairly there. That money and water aren’t withheld from certain people.
[Are you happy?]
[Are you happy?]
The right to live in peace.
El derecho de vivir en paz.
The banner below has taken Víctor Jara’s lyrics and changed it to “breath in peace”. A take on all the teargas that was around Santiago at the time.
El derecho de vivir en paz.
The banner below has taken Víctor Jara’s lyrics and changed it to “breath in peace”. A take on all the teargas that was around Santiago at the time.
I still have dozens, maybe hundreds more of these pictures that I’ll hopefully save and keep for the rest of my life!
One of my favorites is this random drawing, that I assume was done by a child, as it was just sellotaped on someone’s front garden wall.
“I like the marches”
One of my favorites is this random drawing, that I assume was done by a child, as it was just sellotaped on someone’s front garden wall.
“I like the marches”
I meant to say that I took this photo from @nicolasdeppe but again, my brain.
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