Graffiti in Bogota: Colombian Street Art

Street art and graffiti in Colombia is very popular. We have been able to attract a lot of international attention and even visiting street artis have painted here because of that. The best place to see graffiti in Colombia is in Bogota, Medellin, and Cali. The urban infrastructure provides a lot of places artist can paint. Also, in some places it is even legal.

A guide to street art in Colombia can be found in the urban lifestyle magazine named Cartel Urbano. Here you can see a varied oa photo galleries and articles aboput street art in Bogota. For example, read this article about a local graffiti artist:

DMENTAL GRAFFITI ESTÁ DE ANIVERSARIO

You know you´re a Colombian if...

After living here for a while, you start to adapt to the lifestyle here. Things that you would not have thought of doing before, you will start to do. When you do it, you start to feel like a real Colombia.

You know you are a Colombian if...

• you can sleep like a baby on a bouncing bus.
  After you get used to the bumps it kinda feels like you are sleeping in a rocking share and actually is relaxing.
• you consider yourself on time when you are 5-15 minutes late.You will be surprised how punctual you have become all of a sudden. hahaha.
• your first thought for hangover food is caldo de costilla (rib broth).
• you favorite quick snack is empanada and coke.
• you can just have a coffee or orange juice as breakfast.
• you can live off $10 in one day and make your budget stretch to the end of the month.
• you are usually poor the last week of the month.

Bogota Street Style / Fashion

One of the first things tourist notice about Bogota is the way that people dress here. It is different because it is a mix of street fashion, traditional clothes, urban, punk, and conservative. Also, the weather has a large influence on how people dress. For example, the rain causes a big trend of people wearing boots and leather jackets. Even if the person is not a wanna-be hipster or punk, black leather boots and jackets are worn by all.

Another thing tourist notice is that people wear mostly dark colors. You will only see bright colors on the coast of Colombia because they are considred tropical colors. One of my friends form the USA arrived wearing a red hoodie and immediatly felt out of place!

Since a lot of expensive, American, and high-fashion brands are out of reach for most people because of price or availability, street fashion is a unique mix of affordable clothes that is mostly influenced by personal style -- not brands. Though recently, some brands have focused on Colombian fashion and has impacted style via their advertising and marketing campaigns. Success stories of fashion brands penetrating the Colombian market are Adidas and Doc Martins.

A great photo gallery of Bogota street style can be seen on the Cartel Urbano Magazine website.







Bogota street style trends for 2013 and 2014 are:

• Jackets (because of the weather)
• Lots of black
• Fashion sneakers like Nike and Converse shoes
• 90s fashion and accessories (earings)
• Punk / grunge
• Platform shoes over high heels for women
• Designer t-shirts
• Leggings and fashion tights (noone walks around with bare legs!)
• Hipster style sweaters
• Highschool varsity jackets
• Leather boots and jackets
• Anything Adidas

How To Make a Colombian Mad

Depending on the culture, it may surprise you which things can make someone mad in another country. Here are some things that are surprisngly rude in Colombia, which may lead to you accidently making them mad.

• Refusing candy: Colombians love candy and anything sweet. As a result, eating dessert and candy throught the day is a common habit. However, if you are a foreigner and not used to eating so much sweets, you will not be tempted to eat it.

• Ignoring them: In Bogota, people are more conforntational than usual. For example, random people on the street or in public will make comments about you. Whether it is what you are wearing or a casual insult, they make comments that are indirect, but knowing that you can hear them. If you are Colombian, it is normal to engage in a verbal dispute, but if you really want to make someone mad, just ignore them and they get even more irritated.

• Not saying hello or good-bye: Greetings such as buenos dias is reguired in the morning. Especially if you are in a work environment. Say a general good morning to everyone no matter what! If not, you will be considered rude. 

• Not having small bills/change: You will constantly be asked to for smaller bills or coins when paying for items. Because of this, you are expected to make an effort to have exact change. Therefore, when you have no other opton but to pay with large bills, you will get attitude or an eye-roll from the cashier. This especially makes taxi drivers mad!

• Slamming taxi doors: This may seem strange, but it happens a lot to foreigners because of an interesting insight. Cars in the USA a larger than the taxi cars here, so the doors are heavier. As a result, Americans who are used to closing heavy doors, tend to slam the tiny lightweight doors here. Though not done on purpose, it still makes taxi drivers mad.