Valparaíso, Chile – A Blank Canvas?
Valparaíso Street Art
Just like most port cities, Valparaíso‘s first impressions may make you feel a bit insecure about your surroundings, and you may find the narrow alleyways a bit daunting. However the more you explore Valparaíso, and the longer you are here, the more you will feel a welcoming vibe radiating from all the colorful houses and the vibrant Valparaíso street art.
This city indeed is a blank canvas for artists from all around the world. Valparaíso street art is legal, so long as the artist is permitted by an owner to paint on a property. Permission is also needed to paint in public places such as stairways, and other public property.
Failure to get permission and getting caught tagging can land you in big trouble! Just ask the artist that was thrown in jail for 24 hours for painting the favorite piano-like stairs leading up to the historic area!
History Valparaíso
Valparaíso is the second largest city in Chile and is also its largest shipping port. Back in the 19 century, Valparaíso was a major trading hub connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The city went into a significant decline due to the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.
Over the past three decades, the city has made a significant comeback, thanks to its unique mix of Chilian culture, Valparaíso street art, and murals dotted all over town.
Valparaíso – Chile’s culture capital
If you spend a couple of hours walking around Plaza Anibal Pinto, or in and around some of the other touristy areas, you’ll understand precisely why. You’ll see endless street art, young people hanging out enjoying themselves, and loads of performing street musicians.
With its historic transit system, houses and buildings clinging to hillsides, and similar climate, Valparaíso resembles San Francisco.
In 2003 the historic quarter was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. More than 50 cruise ships make Valparaíso a port-of-call during the busy four-month tourist season.
The best way to experience the city and its famous art scene.
Unlike most Spanish Colonial towns, Valparaíso has no official town square. Valparaíso is designed to be a port city initially; not a city of more than 300 thousand inhabitants like it is today.
Most tourists congregate around Plaza Anibal Pinto to enjoy the street music, great restaurants, and the cafes. Up the hill, in the historic quarter, you can find lots of excellent restaurants, graffiti art, coffee shops, and some great views of the city, all while taking a casual stroll through the cobbled streets. The easiest way up the hill is by using one of the Funiculars. (Elevators)
Walking Tour – Valparaíso Street Art
I strongly recommend you take one of many walking tours on offer. I decided to do a Valparaíso street art tour with Valpo Street Art Tours. This excursion cost is on a tip basis only. You pay what you feel the tour was worth. The tour I did was with an awesome guide named Chris, kicking off at Plaza Anibal Pinto.(Just show up around 10:30 a.m.).
Our first stop was an alley, where Chris gave us a brief history of graffiti and tagging. He also showed us some different examples of graffiti and murals.
The photo on the left shows a style developed in Brasil that consists of long letters. The primary challenge for the Tagger is to climb to a high, and dangerous area to place the tag.
The second photo(top right) is your typical tag, and the third style is more prominent with simple letters -known as a throw-up. A throw-up should only take 3 minutes to create. Any longer and the Tagger has a relatively good chance of getting caught and fined!
If shop owners want tagging removed, they can hire a local artist to paint something on the side of their building. Usually, the taggers will respect that art and stop tagging the bare wall.
The desirable side of Valparaíso street art.
What makes this city’s art scene so unique is that you can see graffiti art and murals virtually everywhere. You don’t need to visit different neighborhoods to see everything like most other cities that are well-known for art. Walking along the streets here is a unique experience.
Chris guided us through several streets and showed us all of the following street art shown below. He did a great job of explaining the meaning of each painting.
If you look closely at these pictures, you can see the different styles blended within the transitions from the various artists.
Exciting community project.
A few weeks before I arrived in Valparaíso, the city created a project organized to clean up a street alley over 300m in length. Local artists painted all of the doors and walls with sketch art. Buckets of paint lined up along the road, and over 50 artists showed up to revitalize the street. It took them two days to finish. The street now looks great and has an inviting feel to it.
Depicting History
It only took three days for a group of artists that have been working together for over ten years to paint this mural. It describes a gruesome event that happened back in 1855. After days of heavy rain, part of the cemetery on the hill collapsed onto the street, scattering the remains of hundreds of bodies everywhere.
This next mural was the most impressive for me. Painted by a famous Chilian artist named Inti (who just so happens to be from Valparaíso). Inti now lives in Paris and makes his living off of the murals that he painted in a lot of major cities around the world.
Safety
The uncrowded streets of Valparaíso’s historic center can be dangerous at night, so please take care if you are walking around, especially alone. There are plenty of pickpockets, particularly around Plaza Anibal Pinto.
How To Get There
Valparaíso is located just over 100km West of Santiago. A very comfortable bus ride (I recommend either Pullman Bus or Turbus ) from Santiago will set you back around USD 5. Grab a window seat if you can, as the journey will take you through some very scenic landscapes including endless vineyards and wineries.
Hostels
There are plenty of good hostels and at reasonable prices. (Average USD 14 for a dorm bed). Check out some reviews on Hostelworld.com
If you have any questions about Valparaíso street art or the city itself, please feel free to leave a comment below, and I will get back to you. Thank-you for dropping by my blog today! Travel Can Be Cheap.
Tyler England