“The ‘cuchas’ Are Right”. Murals and Communicative and Political Counter-Devices

Abstract

The painting of memory murals constitutes a new expression of social mobilization in Colombia. The article examines how this way of taking over the streets not only represents an expansion of the political exposure of artistic and social collectives, and of victims, but also serves as an exercise in community and communicative reorganization. The author states that murals reveal an aesthetic appropriation of the city, signifying a return to the neighborhood, the block, or the corner as spaces for gathering and performing the popular, and highlights the processes surrounding the act of painting: the collective call, the consolidation of new symbols, and the circulation of images.