A few photos I took over the weekend at Feria Ch.ACO - Chile’s first Contemporary Art Fair.

Chilean Alvaro Tapia Hidalgo is a graphic designer, filmmaker and most recently an illustrator. His art is inspired by cult films, villains and frequently feature exaggerated expressions that speak to horror, pain and fear.

You can browse his extensive collection on Flickr, and also purchase some of his work in T-shirt form on Decurate, and other forms on society6.

Marcha por la Diversidad Sexual (March for Sexual Diversity) - September 29, 2012

Photos I took from the march yesterday here in Santiago. You can view the complete gallery on Flickr. 

Student Education Protest (Marcha por la Educación) - September 27, 2012 

A selection of my photos from the march today. You can view the complete gallery on Flickr. 

Nice Chilean currency montage from lucidrugs. Peso values from left-to-right: 2000 - Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza (lawyer and guerrilla leader) 10000 - Captain Arturo Prat (lawyer and navy officer) 5000 - Gabriela Mistral (poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist) 1000 - Ignacio Carrera Pinto (19th-century war hero)

Nice Chilean currency montage from lucidrugs. Peso values from left-to-right:

2000 - Manuel Rodríguez Erdoíza (lawyer and guerrilla leader)

10000 - Captain Arturo Prat (lawyer and navy officer)

5000 - Gabriela Mistral (poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist)

1000 - Ignacio Carrera Pinto (19th-century war hero)

A few photos I took from yesterday’s fonda at Parque Padre Hurtado as part of the Fiestas Patrias celebrations in Chile.

The celebration of Fiestas Patrias is an expression of Chilean culture. Traditional activities associated with the Dieciocho include Chilean rodeo, dancing the cueca, going to fondas, and barbecue. Within Chile the Fiestas Patrias are often referred to as the Dieciocho, or “18th” because the celebration occurs on September 18. (Wikipedia)

Google’s featured logo for Chile’s Independence Day. The logo features a Chinchinero - a traditional street performer who roams the street with a bass drum on their back and cymbals operated by their feet. I love watching these guys play and dance - you can often see them in father/son pairs.

Google’s featured logo for Chile’s Independence Day.

The logo features a Chinchinero - a traditional street performer who roams the street with a bass drum on their back and cymbals operated by their feet. I love watching these guys play and dance - you can often see them in father/son pairs.

September 11, 1973 An expression that speaks a thousand words and almost four decades later the emotions are still too raw for many Chileans.

September 11, 1973

An expression that speaks a thousand words and almost four decades later the emotions are still too raw for many Chileans.

Not all buildings here in Santiago are covered in graffiti. Here’s a colourful example adorned with a mural from Juana Perez promoting La Bicicleta Verde. 

Not all buildings here in Santiago are covered in graffiti. Here’s a colourful example adorned with a mural from Juana Perez promoting La Bicicleta Verde. 

Anarchist March (Marcha Anarquista) - September 9, 2012 

As expected, the anarchist march here in Santiago today was anything but peaceful. Their cause is not related to the student education protests but is instead about general awareness of exploitation and oppression on the part of the state. 

My complete gallery on Flickr

The perfect metaphor for the modern class system in Chile. The path to mutually assured destruction.  Photo: Revista Revolver

The perfect metaphor for the modern class system in Chile. The path to mutually assured destruction. 

Photo: Revista Revolver

Colourful illustrative art from Ernesto Guerrero Pititore (‘Pititore’) depicting local musicians and politics with a strictly leftest slant.

Chile, September 1973: Several days after the military coup. People are being forced to remove revolutionary slogans from buildings while militaries are watching. Photo: Koen Wessing

Chile, September 1973:

Several days after the military coup. People are being forced to remove revolutionary slogans from buildings while militaries are watching.

Photo: Koen Wessing

Pepsi vs Allende A fascinating read from Greg Palast about the U.S. plot to prevent Allende’s inauguration, as instigated by PepsiCo. I gives good insight into why there is so much mixed anti-U.S. and anti-capitalist sentiment from a large portion of the population here: Indeed, the October 1970 plot against Chile’s President-elect Salvador Allende, using CIA ‘sub-machine guns and ammo’, was the direct result of a plea for action a month earlier by Donald Kendall, chairman of PepsiCo, in two telephone calls to the company’s former lawyer, President Richard Nixon. Kendall arranged for the owner of the company’s Chilean bottling operation to meet National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger on September 15. Hours later, Nixon called in his CIA chief, Richard Helms, and, according to Helms’s handwritten notes, ordered the CIA to prevent Allende’s inauguration. You can hear more from U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Edward M. Korry, in Patricio Guzmán’s excellent documentary Salvador Allende, 2004 where he openly details just how much the U.S. government despised Allende. Photo: Current product branding used in Chile. 

Pepsi vs Allende

A fascinating read from Greg Palast about the U.S. plot to prevent Allende’s inauguration, as instigated by PepsiCo. I gives good insight into why there is so much mixed anti-U.S. and anti-capitalist sentiment from a large portion of the population here:

Indeed, the October 1970 plot against Chile’s President-elect Salvador Allende, using CIA ‘sub-machine guns and ammo’, was the direct result of a plea for action a month earlier by Donald Kendall, chairman of PepsiCo, in two telephone calls to the company’s former lawyer, President Richard Nixon.

Kendall arranged for the owner of the company’s Chilean bottling operation to meet National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger on September 15. Hours later, Nixon called in his CIA chief, Richard Helms, and, according to Helms’s handwritten notes, ordered the CIA to prevent Allende’s inauguration.

You can hear more from U.S. Ambassador to Chile, Edward M. Korry, in Patricio Guzmán’s excellent documentary Salvador Allende, 2004 where he openly details just how much the U.S. government despised Allende.

Photo: Current product branding used in Chile. 

Student Protest - August 28, 2012 - Part Two

More photos I took from today’s student march/protest for education.

See also: Part One