This post (along with that on the micros and street dogs) is slightly different than the rest. This post was written after the trip so that I could write about a particular aspect of the culture that I experienced throughout my entire stay.
Graffiti is different in Chile than it is in the United States. Usually when you think of graffiti in the United States, you think of vandalism, delinquency, or something similar to that. It is very rarely considered a form of art. In Chile however, yes there is graffiti such as that we think of usually in the USA, but usually it is more of an art. This is why it is usually referred to in Chile as street art or "arte callejero". Many times it is used to brighten up a street that previously may have seemed dull and/or depressing. There is particularly a lot of street art on Cerro Alegre. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures of many of them. If you find some of the ones below interesting, feel free to search street art in ValparaÃso. There are very many intriguing drawings and I don't even have pictures several of my favorites. For example, I really liked one depiction of a clown with electricity shooting out of its hands. Some of the larger scale artworks take more than a week to complete.
Street art is so popular, that there is even famous graffiti artists. One such person calls himself Inti. Another calls himself "La Robot Madera". The picture below of a porteño (a person from ValparaÃso) holding a burning tower is one of his works. One of the more famous murals in Valpo are the seasons. There are four murals on the sides of very tall buildings each representing the life of a porteño in one of the four seasons. The types of graffiti vary greatly. Sometimes they are very simplistic paintings. Other times they are extremely detailed and sometimes they are more like murals. However, despite how the art is created, street art is a very rich and deep part of the culture in ValparaÃso.
