Today, I decided to take some spray paint to La Candelaria where the walls are coated in slick colors of paint. I’d been itching to try it myself ever since getting here and so I was excited to finally do it today. It turned out to be more of an adventure than I first imagined because 1) the rules about graffiti are fickle 2) one of my pieces got painted over within 10 minutes of completing it 3) I got to half a 20 minute conversation with a group of smiling police who very unconvincingly scolded me for painting the walls.
I painted four pieces in total today and it was fantastic! The red/orange/yellow shape in the back, the girl on the right and in front are three of them. What a concept that the walls were my canvas! It was truly liberating.
Here’s a picture of me and my new police friend, Lenis, who told me that I needed to bring him a traditional Japanese hat (?!) when I came back to Bogota next time and gave me his cell phone number.
About Miyuki Baker
Miyuki is a resident of the place where many circles overlap. They’re a queer, multi-racial/lingual artist, activist & academic passionate about using common or discarded objects, stories, zines, and performance in public spaces to make accessible art. Their research examines how we practice “hope” and meaning through space, architecture and the environment. They’re currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of Performance Studies at UC Berkeley.
After graduating from Swarthmore College in 2012, where they were involved in queer Asian activism and making art, they received the Watson Fellowship to travel the world in search of queer artists and activists and made 8 zines highlighting what they learned under their publishing house Queer Scribe Productions. From 2014-2015 she lived in Ecuador and traveled by bicycle from Ecuador to Colombia cataloging traditional textiles, music and food. After returning, they built and lived in a mobile tiny house for a year (until selling it in May 2016).
Hey Miyuki! 
I love this. And the art is beautiful. Keep the posts coming. 😀
Thanks Abigailll!!!!
So cool! So graffiti is… allowed? Or “allowed” if you know what I mean. My guess is that you didn’t just happen to run into the most friendly police officers, but that the culture there makes your art perfectly okay. Did you get photos of any of your other pieces?
Yeah it seems like it’s “allowed” 😉 There are two pieces behind the music one that I did…one with a girl with rainbow highlights saying “queer love” and the other is to the left of it.
Thanks for commenting Andrew 😉 I’ve been reading your blog too! Good stuff!