“On March 18th, 2019, Sergio Rojas, a Bribri indigenous leader, was murdered after being shot 15 times in Yeri, Salitre area, in southern Costa Rica.
As a member of the National Coordination of the National Front of Indigenous Peoples (FRENAPI), Rojas fought for the restitution of ancestral lands and the conservation of native ecosystems.”
“FUE EL ESTADA. SERGIO VIVE!” = It was the State. Sergio Lives!
My journey to becoming a global documenter of graffiti and street art began back in Bogota, Colombia in 2012. It was all of the words scrawled and stenciled on the walls allover the city that prompted a keen interest within me. Two things happened: My Spanish improved quickly (because I had to go home and translate the words into English) and secondly, I got a sense almost overnight of the political issues of the disenfranchised elements of society within the country.
Realizing that graffiti had the power to communicate important messages and concerns of ordinary citizens, I began to pay close attention to the writings on the walls all over the world. It’s amazing what you can see when you look. It’s amazing what you can hear when you listen. It’s amazing what you can understand when you open your heart.
Once the foundation of my passion was set, my documentation progressed to all genres of street art including murals, stickers, sculptures, wheat pastes, everything and anything, that I judged to be making a statement of some kind in a public arena.
Since 2012, this blog has grown exponentially and one series in particular, the “Politiks of Graffiti” series featuring street art images I’ve collected around the world, combined with the weekly list covering the current state of the U.S. government compiled by activist Amy Siskind, has garnered a lot of interest and has a bit of a following on Twitter. It’s important to note that I cover all forms of political statements I discover in public art. It’s unfortunate that it just so happens, the current “P.O.G” is heavily laden with visual commentary of ’45.’ I would love for it to be something else, or something more, and I believe it will be, eventually.
In the future, I plan to do a book of “Graffiti and Global Politics,” or something like that, using the images I’ve collected around the world in the past decade.
That being said, I am currently in San Jose, Costa Rica and the walls are rife with political statements.
Please check them out below:
On the very first day I arrived in San Jose, I saw this stencil on walls, on roads (literally, I was crossing the street, looked down, and this image was stenciled on the road!), and here at a bus stop. I researched to find out that this man is Oscar Arias. He is a former President of Costa Rica and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He’s been accused of sexual assault by a nuclear disarmament activist. VIOLADOR is RAPIST in Spanish. These two stencils are about domestic violence and oppression of the poor. On the left: “If he insults you, he doesn’t love you. If he hits you, don’t stay.” On the right: “The rich abort the dying poor.” “The revolution will be feminist or it will not be.” I take it to mean that the revolution must be run by women, because if it isn’t. then there won’t be one at all. “There are bullets and good decisions.”“They infuse terror and want forgiveness.”“Welcome Migrants”“My body does not want your opinion.”“The rich abort the dying poor.”“Against patriarchal and capitalist violence, our deep rebellion.”“The earth is feminist.”I’m not sure about this translation: “Outside rosaries of our ovaries.” It definitely has something to do with telling men that they don’t make decisions for women and their bodies.
Correos de Costa Rica. Central Post Office. Built in 1917.7 Cardinal Rules of Life = Siete Reglas Cardinales de la Vida
1. Make peace with your past – so it won’t disturb your present.
2. What other people think of you – is none of your business.
3. Time heals almost everything – give it time.
4. No one is in charge – of your happiness. Except you!
5. Don’t compare your life to others – and don’t judge them. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
6. Stop thinking too much – it’s all right not to know all the answers. They will come to you when you least expect it.
7. Smile – you don’t own all the problems in the world.
Barrio in the valley“57% of the population identify themselves as Roman Catholics, 25% are Protestants, 15% do not have a religion…”
The sun can be strong on the streets of San Jose
Avocados for salePeatonal. = Pedestrian.Old Skool mural
La sera feminista o No Sera. = It will be feminist or it will not be. This woman was an unwitting crossing guard for me. I waited to cross the busy street until she did, and when we were halfway across, I said “Gracias!” and she laughed. Costa Ricans are pura vida.
“Moldovans, therefore, Romanians.” A lot of graffiti on the walls of Chişinău depict a growing segment of the population that would like to see the two countries merge into one.
“A Rose 🌹 by any other name . . .” = “Un trandafir cu orice alt nume . . .”
Old Roman Columns disintegrating in plain view. A graffiti tag from Bust, a Romanian graffiti writer…
Mysterious BNE has left his tag all over the capital city. No one knows who he is, but as someone who travels the world, I can tell you that he is arguably the MOST prolific sticker slapper in the street art universe. I’ve seen them in tons of cities around the globe. BNE is a proponent for clean water 💦 for everyone… I’d say go to his IG, but, he’s taken all of his posts down…? I want to meet this guy so badly!
The back of the Chișinău Water Tower.
3LB Crew
The Waiting is the hardest part.
An unattended dog , quite possibly the Queen’s , walks past a rundown house.
There’s still life inside these walls.
BNE. The sticker below is what I was referring to earlier. The tags that I’m seeing all over the city, are a first for me, I think. I thought he just did stickers.
Another sticker for mayoral candidate, Constantin Codreanu .
I love seeing books in different languages other than English . But, don’t read about that asshole, though. In ANY language.
Moldovans exit a bus 🚌 on Stefan Cel Mare Street .
Cafea cu graffiti mele, te rog .
Locals hang out in front of the opera house on Stefan Cel Mare str.
Politics are a part of the fiber of Moldova 🇲🇩 . Russian Matryoshka dolls for sale at the market in the park next to the opera house.
Kitty on LSD. Because, why not ?
I love it when street art naturally merges with the urban landscape .
FVCK your politics. Serve the people ! “Jack” sticker is from Zacharie Bodson, à Lille, France-based artist.
About 60,000 people came out to march for stricter gun laws (amongst other fascist aspects of this regime) today on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
Week 41 is full of content about Trump-Russia, and indications that the Mueller probe is closing in on Trump and his regime. News stories indicate that despite Trump’s public indifference and belittlement of the probe, he is privately consumed by it, and acting in ways which could well be construed as, and lead to charges for, obstruction of justice.
In the two weeks since Charlottesville, our country is consumed in flames of hate, and Trump is fanning those flames. As well, he continues his unimpeded march to authoritarian power, neutralizing the judicial branch with an unethical pardon, and attacking members of his own party in an effort to silence them. So far, the latter is largely working, and as this week comes to a close, remaining checks and balances to save our democracy are eroding, and Trump appears to feel fully in power.
Following the counter-protest march of over 40k in Boston, Trump tweeted the country needs “to heel.” Trump used the misspelled word four times in two consecutive deleted tweets, before correcting it to heal.
Secret Service cited Trump’s frequent weekend trips to his properties, and his family’s extensive business and vacation travel. Secret Service spent $60k on golf carts, revenues which go to the Trump Organization.
24 hours after his address to the nation, Trump headed to a campaign rally in Phoenix, despite pleas from the Mayor of Phoenix in an op-ed and on air that it was not a good time for Trump to visit.
Trump tweeted asking if Clapper “who famously got caught lying to Congress,” would share “his beautiful letter to me?” Clapper said he had handwritten almost identical notes to both candidates for Election Day.
Current and former agent expressed apprehension about conflict of interests. There is “real concern for interference and politicization,” and that Pompeo may bring newly discovered information to the WH.
CNN reported Congressional investigators unearthed an email from Rick Dearborn, a top campaign aide who is now Trump’s deputy chief of staff, about an individual seeking to connect top Trump officials with Putin.
After Icahn resigned in Week 40 ahead of a story on his influencing regulations to his financial benefit, the Trump regime stated unlike a government employee, Icahn had “no official role or duties.”
On Friday, Trump attacked another Republican, saying Corker is constantly asking if he should run in 2018, and “Tennessee not happy!” Corker had questioned Trump’s fitness to serve in Week 40.
The WH rapid response director, Andy Hemming is leaving. Hemming had worked from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. every weekday blasting out stories favorable to the Trump regime.
Late Friday, Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an elected official who defied a federal court’s order to stop violating people’s constitutional rights. Arpaio had been found in contempt of court in his ongoing case.
Here is some graffiti depicting a Moldovan mother and child walking up a path to the European Union. The Republic of Moldova has been actively pursuing European Union membership for years. But, due to its poverty level (the poorest of any countries pursuing membership) and its ongoing Transnistrian dispute (Transnistria is an independently formed breakaway republic backed by, you guessed it, Russia), the EU has not been willing to accept the country. The EU has set up shop in Chisinau (since 2005) and is trying to ‘help’ with the conflict in order to (possibly) eventually bring Moldova into the Union, as Moldova has desperately tried to gain entry for so long… – I’m taking a road trip to Transnistria today, as I wish to see it for myself.
Before we were able to get to a grocery store, we were taken to a bakery for breakfast. I got a coffee, cinnamon roll, and an apple. I was told that I was eating the most expensive fruit in Venezuela because apples are only imported.
This woman’s face is everywhere because she is the governor of the state of Monagas and she is a Chavez loyalist. She just won the recent election in a close battle with the opposition.
Still trying to find myself around the food here. I don’t have any spices like salt and pepper or anything, so on the weekend I made black beans, rice, and a scrambled egg with a strange mixture of mayo, mustard, and honey as a sauce, and wrapped it in a tortilla. So, “Jackie’s Bland Breakfast Burrito?”
There he is again. We’re not really hearing anything about his current condition anymore.
Taken to an outdoor market on Sunday. Like most markets of this kind around the world, especially Asia. The smell of fish permeates the atmosphere and reasonably priced fruits and vegetables can be purchased.
Egg seller.
Another bland dish i concocted: Black beans, rice, and sauteed eggplant with sliced bananas to give it a little sweetness. So, “Jackie’s Mad Maturin Mixture?”