Graffiti in Ecuador

As with any big city, there is graffiti.  It seems to be present in many, if not all, of the big cities in the world.  My stay in Cuenca has piqued my interest in its interesting collection of "art", so I decided to take some photos.

Some are very basic, utilizing just a single-color spray paint can:

Some send a powerful message:

"Study, Organize, and Fight/Rebel."  You may notice the "JCE" stencil on the right.  JCE stands for "Juventud Comunista Ecuatoriano" (Communist Youth of Ecuador).

And of course, some graffiti is very complex and hard to read/understand:

This wall has "Ganja Crew" tagged on it.  Ganja means marijuana.  Upon closer inspection, the eyes of the person in purple have cannabis leaves in them:

Others are even more open for interpretation:

This one says "Tína".  This could be talking about a girl...or meth.  Who knows?

"Smash."  I'm not even going to pretend like I know what this means.  I'm stumped.

 

Maybe the "MSA Crew" felt like making some pretty "Cuenca Arte".  This is refreshingly pretty graffiti.

There are others that I remember, but I was not able to find their location again for a photo.  The most memorable was a classic depiction of a black sphere cartoon bomb, but with an interesting twist.  There was a big red letter A (the anarchy symbol) on the bomb, and the fuse was lit, sending the clear message that at least someone or some group is letting the government know the people will only take so much, and the clock is ticking, because that fuse is burning!  This gives us insight into the volatile political environment in Ecuador.  I took the liberty of creating a rendition in MS Paint:

As a side note, Quito also had powerful graffiti.  There are two that I will always remember:

1.  An anthropomorphic television with arms, legs, and a crown, whose screen read "Yo soy tu Dios" (I am your God), representing the influence of media and its power over the people.

2.  A fierce condor (representing Ecuador) ripping out the eyes of a lion (representing Spain).  This symbolizes the sovereignty of Ecuador:  independence from Spain.  Long live patriotism!

So to sum it up, graffiti is an interesting and questionable (because it can be considered vandalism) way to express and convey an idea publicly, in any part of the world.  I think it might be a way to express an idea anonymously, or to make a point of view known in a powerful way.  Graffiti expresses all types of ideas in a very visual way.  I didn't expect to see graffiti here in Ecuador.  I'm not sure why, but it always just seemed like a US thing to me.  Now the experience of travel has taught me otherwise!

 Disclaimer: The Matthew in no way advocates or condones the proliferation of graffiti, and is only commenting on the graffiti that already exists.