Street Art in Lima

Before getting to Lima, I had big expectations about the local street art scene. When I started researching my South American trip, I found several articles praising the Latidoamericano street art festival. The photos looked amazing, so I couldn’t wait to see all those beautifully vibrant murals in person. And I was not disappointed with the street art in Lima.

To start, I walked around Miraflores, one of the most popular districts in Lima for tourists. Contrary to what I expected, the murals that I found were not concentrated in one zone, but spread around a vast area. So I had to walk a lot, but that’s OK with me. It was nice to see this mural by Triangulo Dorado since this trio from Argentina went their separate ways in 2013.

Another great find were a couple of murals by local artist Decertor. His works are colorful pieces that portray the local people and culture. More often than not, this talented muralist aims to stir the public’s conscience by representing the challenges of our society with an ironic tone.

The title for the most prolific artists, however, goes to local duo Entes & Pesimo. While I was in Buenos Aires, I saw one of their murals and I was hooked. Their murals are easily recognizable. Most of them feature a couple of people showing affection for each other, and often there are animals, too. These guys are one of the most important influencers of the local street art scene. For the past couple of years, they’ve organized the Latidoamericano festival, an event that brings together some of the best Latin American street artists.

After what I saw in Miraflores, I was expecting to find more murals in Barranco, Lima’s most bohemian district. However, I only saw a few colorful houses here and there; plus a couple more of Entes & Pesimo’s pieces near the Museum of Contemporary Art. That was pretty much it at the time. However, it seems that there are more and more new murals popping up there now.

To end, I headed to Lima’s historic center. At that time, there were several impressive murals from the Latidoamericano festival still on the walls. Sadly, that has changed. Earlier this year, some of these beautiful works were painted over. Apparently, Lima’s new mayor thinks that this kind of street art does not belong in the historic center and decided to remove them. The former mayor, Susana Villaran, encouraged many cultural programs in the city center. And these murals were part of her legacy.

If you want to see more photos of street art in Lima, check out my gallery.

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