Local artists have been painting a series of new murals in La Boca depicting everyday people, architecture and the history of the neighbourhood. Photos by Buenos Aires Street Art.
One of the new murals painted by Grupo La Boca (photo © BA Street Art)
The artists collective Grupo La Boca that consists of Omar Gasparini, Alejandra Fenochio, Patricia Salatino, Eva Luna and Melina Lluvia were the authors of these colourful new murals. The project was organised by Zam Producciones and sponsored by BA Creativa.
Mural depicting immigrants & docks (photo © BA Street Art)
La Boca is Buenos Aires’ most colourful neighbourhood and has long been associated with being the city’s port and immigrants arriving here from Europe on boats at the end of the 1800s, then before and after the First and Second World Wars.
Boat (photo © BA Street Art)
La Torre del Fantasma (below) built in 1915, located on the corner of Benito Pérez Galdós, Avenue Almirante Brown and Villafañe streets, is one of the most iconic buildings in La Boca.
La Torre del Fantasma & local people playing drums (photo © BA Street Art)
The ‘Ghost Tower’ was once owned by a wealthy property owner Auvert Aurnaud who decorated it with exotic hanging plants and psychedelic mushrooms she had brought from Spain. Soon her servants started to abandon the building and mysteriously disappear. She then moved out and rented her home to a talented artist called Clementina who used the tower as her studio. Clementina gave an interview to a local journalist about her art and after photographs of her in the atelier were developed, a series of figures that appeared to be gnomes could be seen in the background.
Soon after, legend has it that the artist supposedly threw herself to her death from a window of the same tower. Auvert Aurnaud, said the explication, was simple: “The gnomes who lived in the tower pushed her.” The creatures supposedly entered the tower together with the plants and objects that she brought from Catalunya, and neighbours reported screams and strange noises coming from the tower.
La Usina del Arte (photo © BA Street Art)
La Usina del Arte was once an electrical power station but has been converted by the city government into an exhibition centre and administration building. This mural above also features a girl playing ‘rayuela’ or hopscotch and a vintage car being repaired in a workshop.
Viva el Carnival! (photo © BA Street Art)
Street carnivals are a colourful sight in Argentina and are normally held annually at the end of February or the start of March with local musicians, dancers and performers rehearsing weeks before with street processions and festivities taking place all over the country.
Actors & performers from a local theatre group (photo © BA Street Art)
Everyday life (photo © BA Street Art)
This mural (above) includes everyday scenes in summertime including a lady sitting on her porch, a hairdresser cutting a young mother’s hair, a family cooling off in a paddling pool and an old goods train that still passes through the neighbourhood of La Boca.
Pelopinchos (photo © BA Street Art)
Paddling pools commonly known as ‘Pelopinchos’, that is still a popular manufacturer in Argentina, are a common site in working class areas like La Boca. With temperatures soaring past 36 centigrade in summer on hot days, what better way is there to cool down and it’s not unusual to see kids splashing around in a paddling pool set up on the pavement.
Bomberos (photo © BA Street Art)
Many neighbourhoods like La Boca rely on volunteer firefighters to put out blazes. La Boca has suffered a number of significant fires that have burnt down buildings over the years. And murals can be found around the area paying tribute to the brave and important job that firemen do for the community.
Boca Juniors fans in front of La Bombonera (photo © BA Street Art)
There is only one football team in La Boca and many houses and buildings are painted in the colours of Boca Juniors and the streeets are full of supporters on match days.
All photos © Buenos Aires Street Art
