Colombia: Street Art in La Candelaria

Recently, I celebrated 10 years of “freedom”. Not that I had been "un-free" before, but 10 years ago I arrived to Hong Kong as a young man (still feel young!). First time I had lived out of my “second home” in the US since I had moved there in 1990. I remembered arriving and seeing the Ghost Festival in HK in August, people lighting candles and burning “paper money” in corners and alleys; feeling the novelty of the world.

To commemorate, I set to what for me has always been the paramount sign of freedom: traveling. For various reasons in the last few months, being in London, Sweden, Iceland, Mexico, NYC and Bogota, I celebrated locations, mobility, nomadic life and more than anything – and I am cognizant of it – the amazing chance that I have been granted to be able to do this (akin to what Warren Buffet calls the “Ovarian Lottery”).

Under this spirit, I arrived this August to Bogota, coinciding with the inauguration of the new president, Juan Manuel Santos. The city was under heavy security, the recent past of violent, was still very much fresh in everyone’s mind. Yet, talking to one of the friend’s I met to talk politics and business during the weekend, he was quick to point out Colombia’s progress. In particular, Uribe’s acceptance of the Supreme Court’s decision not to modify the Constitution to give him a third-term despite overwhelming (~70%!) popular support, seems like a true exercise of moderation and democracy not always seen in Latin America.

I was not invited to the inauguration, truth be told, but took advantage nonetheless of the security in the bohemian neighborhood of La Candelaria in downtown Bogota to photograph. This neighborhood, my favourite, tends to have some no-go zones at times. In the day of the innaguration, full of military and police, I was able to partake freely of the area and so I walked. The result is the attached series of photos on the street art of the neighborhood.