Saturday, January 21st, 2023

Generally, I enjoy graffiti. I know some do not, and of course, there is the age-old battle between what defines "street art" and "graffiti". My definition is probably a bit too lax, but if I see it in the street and I enjoy it, it's art, and I try to take a photo of it.

As for why I enjoy it? It's complicated. I do understand the trespassing and property damage part of it. If I own a building made of walls and someone scrawls something on it without my permission, I have full rights to take steps to remove it. It costs money and is an unneeded burden to private property owners, or public ones for that matter. Toronto is a relatively "clean" city when it comes to "tags", those names or words you see quickly sprayed everywhere. Santiago on the other hand is not, and you can see the difference in photos of the two cities. But if you want good graffiti in a city, the tags come with it.

This brings us to Valparaíso. Lovely city as I described in my last post. And the street art was pretty good.

Also, a bonus photo of this lion statue at the Vlaparaíso Cemetary N.2. He looks surprised that I'm here.