PHOTOS: Muralists ‘Paint Resistance’ in Toribío, Colombia · Global Voices
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Students of CECIDIC. Photo shared on Flickr by Minga de los Muralistas de los Pueblos, under the Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The Center for Education, Training and Research for Integral Community Development [es] (CECIDIC) organized a “‘Minga‘ of Village Muralists” in the town of Toribío, in the Cauca department of Colombia, to “help create a different collective imagination for the community through art” and to “turn Toribío into a museum of outdoor art,” according to the event's Facebook page [es].
A minga (or minca) is a type of communal work done in favor of a community.
The majority of the population in the town of Toribío is of the indigenous Nasa, and has been one of the areas most affected by armed conflict in the country. CECIDIC is an educational and indigenous non-profit organization that works in the town of Toribío.
“Neither the cold nor the rain scared off the Iskra team”. Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Facebook.
From October 19 to 26 the minga united over 60 artists from Colombia and other parts of Latin America, such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, and Mexico.
Photos of the minga have been shared on Flickr [es], Facebook [es], and Twitter [es], often with short comments like this one:
Jafeth Gómez – Wipala Cultural Collective. Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Facebook.
“La Minga de Muralistas es una oportunidad para que a través del arte se haga un llamado a los actores del conflicto armado para que asuman un compromiso de respeto hacia la población de Toribío”. Jafeth Gómez – Colectivo Cultural Wipala
“The Muralist Minga is an opportunity to make a call to the actors of the armed conflict through art so that they assume a commitment of respect towards the population of Toribío.” Jafeth Gómez – Wipala Cultural Collective
Mural in Toribío, Cauca. Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Facebook.
“Our inspiration and motivation”. Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Facebook.
Agroecological School. Photo shared on Flickr by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos, under the Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Additionally, with the hashtag #MuralistasdelosPueblos [es] (#VillageMuralists), the group, artists, and other users that supported the minga have been sharing photos, videos, and messages:
Así recuperamos nuestro territorio, nuestras tradiciones, nuestras costumbres, nuestra vida… #MuralistasdelosPueblos
— Minga de Muralistas (@MingaMuralistas) October 25, 2013
This way we regain our territory, our traditions, our customs, our life…
Orgulloso del apoyo y trabajo de @lacasalibre en la Minga de #MuralistasdelosPueblos
— lncognito (@lncognito) October 22, 2013
Proud of the support and work of @lacasalibre in the Village Muralists Minga
En Toribío seguimos pintando resistencia #MuralistasdelosPueblos pic.twitter.com/pmGKOvIWQX
— Minga de Muralistas (@MingaMuralistas) October 21, 2013
In Toribío we continue painting resistance.
The photos of the murals can also been seen on the group's Instagram [es] page.
Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Instagram.
House of Youth Movement “Alvaro Ulcué”. Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Instagram.
Contribution from “Somos Muiscas”. Photo shared by Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos on Instagram.
On YouTube, Minga de Muralistas de los Pueblos [es] have also shared various brief videos of the murals:
On October 25, the day before the end of the minga, the group denounced [es] vandalism of the murals on Facebook and Twitter [es]:
Según señalan vecinos de Toribío, durante rondas nocturnas, militares y policías han aprovechado para dañar algunas d las obras en el pueblo
— Minga de Muralistas (@MingaMuralistas) October 25, 2013
According to neighbors in Toribío, the military and police have taken advantage of nightly rounds to damage some of the works in the village
On the last day of the minga, Mónica Hurtado shared her sentiments on Facebook [es]:
7 dias despues………..y el color se apoderó de la arquitectura, de los espacios, de los niños, de los jovenes, del pueblo, de la esperanza y del amor por sembrar semillas de Paz!!
7 days later………..and color has taken over the architecture, the spaces, the children, the youth, the village, the hope and love of planting seeds of Peace!!
More than 100 photos of the minga can be seen in a photo album [es] shared by photographer Marialina Mavizu [es] on Facebook.