Waving Goodbye

You've been great, apartment.

 El Cuarto Gris, the future gallery of our apartment, featuring photographs by Diego Casusol and I.

 The flags wave me goodbye in anticipation of July 28th's independence festivities.

 Ciao, Lucky!

Last coffee with Daniel at the aeropuerto. I found out just hours before the flight that my Abuela Inés passed away, right before my family arrived in Madrid. To top it off, I would arrive in the middle of the funerary services, and wouldn't make it to Toledo in time. Needless to say, this was an emotional time for me, and as always, Daniel was there comfort me over conversation and a cup of coffee. He's been more than a friend, he's a part of my family. Lots of difficult goodbyes today.

Last Hurrah!

On my last day, Arnold took a few (unbecoming) photos of me in my office.

After nine months at the Municipality, I finally got to meet the mayor, Alcaldesa Susana Villarán. Despite her controversial reputation (a left-leaning woman as the mayor of Lima?!), I always liked her, and she was especially sweet to me about my grandmother's condition. She noted that she'd seen some of the murals and was impressed, and hoped that if I couldn't stay, at least that the efforts would continue onward.

Stopping at the Café Verde one last time.

 In Barranco.

Maricela, Carla, Diego and I before going to see some jazz on a foggy Lima night.

Colors on Ancash

Roz paints the second floor of an indoor market on Jirón Ancash.

Peremese works a few blocks up on a façade that was once chipped.

Splattered

The beginning of Peremese's process on the end of Jirón Ancash.

A tribute to Barrios Altos.

I love these details.

Basick paints in another part of the city center where garbage accumulation is a big problem. The wall used to say something along the lines of, "Municipal Property: Don't Dump Here". We thought a nice design might work better.

This is problematic. Cholo is a derogatory word for Native Indian.

Beginning of the End

I decided to finish up my work in Lima and go back home for a few reasons-- mostly because we had planned to go to Spain in the summer to visit my Abuela Inés and I had proposed to Raul (over the phone) and would have to move back to The States.
Murals were at their peak productivity when I heard that my grandmother had taken a fall. I'll be leaving directly from Lima to Madrid, and have just a few days to wrap up the first stage of the project and leave it in capable hands, move out of my apartment, say goodbyes, feel nostalgic at typical things and just soak in the rest of my experience here. A journey coming to a close.

El Decertor does what has been the most monumental of interventions, and the first that I coordinated to use a crane. This 6th block of Jirón Ancash is seen from the very busy Avenida Abancay, and is home to the Escuela Nacional Superior Autónoma de Bellas Artes del Perú. Because of Barrios Altos' rich tradition of criollo and AfroPeruvian music, we decided on a cajón, a typical percussion instrument, to start the beat of murals up the street.

Spectators.

More spectators.

Back at the office, Mari Lu and Katharina having fun!

Las Tapadas de Maravillas

The post office (and a plea for rain).

As part of Jirón Ancash de Maravillas, Jade paints a typical criollo character of Lima history-- las tapadas. These were women who, in colonial times, had to be covered, and many people in Barrios Altos got the reference right away (while, for me, it looked very Middle-Eastern).

Lots of glass cabinet places on this block, for some reason.

Unfortunately this guy couldn't run around with the pack because of a broken foot.

Further up Ancash Avenue is la Iglesia Santa Clara, which can be seen in the background. Jirón Ancash was once a glorious avenue where goods came in from the mountains through the city gates and churches, convents, markets and plantations lined the streets. A church named maravillas, marvels, is located just past where the gates were, and this inspired the name of our initiative, Jirón Ancash de Maravillas. Despite the lowered living conditions, it remains a bustling and culturally lively place in Lima history.

The final touch.

The mural is just a few blocks from the Congress building, and Jade inserted his own commentary about the current tapadas.

A common site in Lima's center.

Basick

As part of our Jirón Ancash de Maravillas initiative, many murals were placed on every few blocks of the newly painted façades. This one, on a corner, was once covered in nails and full of soot. Basick did this one-- see more of his work, and other members of the DA2C crew.

Cantagallo- La Selva de Lima

Arriving in Cantagallo, a settlement atop a hill across the river from Barrios Altos. It's home to many Shipibo families from the Amazonian rainforest.

At the Municipal Building next door to Cantagallo. The plan was to paint the façade of their dividing wall, but at the last minute permission wasn't granted, so the artists decided to paint directly on walls.

Note the typical selva (rainforest) design.

WA painting directly on someone's house (with their enthusiastic consent, of course).

The kids join in too!

WA paints.

Jungle themes.

Jade paints with the kids.

Balloon shadows.

These two are just precious.

Murals that have been there depict scenes from the Amazon.

Lima's city center can be seen beyond the Rímac River (which, at this time of the year, is mostly empty and polluted).

One girl shows me her urban art.

Pogs!

Similarly shaped cheeks.

Welcome to Lima's Rainforest- Shipiba Community of Cantagallo-Rimac.

This one was taken by Andrew, a friend of mine from Fordham who came to visit Peru and was interested in getting to know the underground art scene.

Andrew in my (very pink!) office.