So this here is just an interesting bit of art; political art in this case, as it commemorates the union of students. Not a 'student union' in the sense of American Universities, but in the sense of a literal union. The effect is much the same, though: both make total asses of themselves presenting an utterly unrealistic utopic vision of how just about everything should work.
The "no a la baja" was in reference to a recent referendum. The right-wing parties wanted to make people under the age of 18 responsible for their crimes (at present, all they get is detention in a youth facility). The student associations were opposed to the change, with the idiotic motto of "being young isn't a crime" (no, but CRIMINAL ACTS are crimes!). In any case, the "no" side won and to this day 17.5 year-olds are not criminally responsible for butchering people in Uruguay.
Here we have a large building, just to make it clear that it's not all small or old buildings. Though this one probably dates to the 1950s or 1960s, so "new" is a relative term.
Here are some more buildings, showing off the contrast of older and newer architecture. To me, of course, the 19th and early-20th century architecture is the coolest.
Here we have a plaza, with a particularly nice flowering tree. The statue is of one of the various "founding fathers" of Uruguay. The closed stalls are market stalls, that were not open on the day I took the photo. You often see people sitting around in the plazas: on a weekend day, favorite activities around town include going to see futbol/soccer, going to the beach, or just sitting around in a public plaza drinking mate.
RPGPundit
Currently Smoking: Savinelli Oom Paul + Gawith's Balkan Flake
Shame about the grafitti
ReplyDeleteYou'll note that graffiti is only on the covers of the market stalls, which wouldn't be seen if the market stalls were open.
DeleteAnyways, the grafitti in this city is actually amazing. At some point I'll have to do a post about the really astounding art you see here in that genre; it's way different from what you see in most north american cities, and people here generally appreciate it when it's well done (and not just 'tagging' like in the picture here).
To add to that, some graffiti artist care to paint the boards that cover constructions sites with very clever and interesting designs.
DeleteSome trendy paces even hire some graffiti artists to paint the inside of their bars/pubs/hostels/restaurants.
Key word there is "some"
ReplyDeleteTrust us on this. Graffiti here is more awesome than any of the dozens of cities I've been to.
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