Colourful mural street art depicting two women
Colombia,  Photographing Public Art,  Street art,  Travel galleries

Gallery: the street art of Candelaria, Bogota

If I had to choose a single word to associate with Colombia, it would be ‘colour’. Nowhere else, I believe, have I seen so many brightly painted houses as in some of its villages. And as for street art, I firmly believe the Colombians are obsessed! If there is a flat surface, they will paint it. From the smallest roadside shack selling snacks, to the sides of high-rise buildings in parts of Bogota and Medellin, the quality of the art often amazed me.

Over the coming weeks I plan to share the street art from several of the cities we visited for the Photographing Public Art challenge, hosted by Natalie. I’m starting today with the capital, Bogota, which is also where we started our trip. This is a large sprawling metropolis, but in the heart of its old city lies La Candelaria. The name comes from its church, which is dedicated to the Virgen de la Candelaria. This is where the city was founded in 1538 and in addition to some significant buildings such as the cathedral and Botero Museum (look for another post on this), it is also home to steep cobbled streets and small plazas lined with old colonial houses. Today most of these are bars or restaurants, their walls adorned with often beautiful murals. Here are some of my favourites.

Colourful mural depicting a man blowing smoke and a white cat
Colourful mural depicting a dragon
Colourful mural and bright umbrellas
Colourful mural on a tall narrow house
Colourful mural depicting bird with a long tail on a branch
Colourful mural depicting surrealist faces
Colourful mural depicting Freddy Kruger
Colourful mural around the entrance to a restaurant
Colourful mural depicting an elderly woman drinking in a kitchen
Worn yellow mural depicting person in headdress with corn cobs
Colourful mural depicting a man drinking from a bowl
Colourful mural depicting a young man's face
Colourful mural depicting a woman and plants
Colourful mural depicting young girl and hummingbird

I visited Colombia in February 2023   

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