PHOTOS: A Colombian town tries to paint its way to peace
Students work on their murals in Toribío, Colombia.
In a small community in Colombia, a local organization is trying to reimagine the community, through art.
The Center for Education, Training and Research for Integral Community Development organized a Minga of village muralists in the town of Toribío, to “turn Toribío into a museum of outdoor art." A minga (or minca) is a type of project typically done in Andes towns and villages, done to benefit the community as a whole.
Toribío is home mostly to indigenous Nasa people and has been one of the areas most affected by armed conflict in the country. In an effort to stem the violence, from Oct. 19 to 26, more than 60 artists from Colombia and other parts of Latin America came together — to paint. Their work was documented on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter, often with short comments like this one:
“The Muralist Minga is an opportunity to make a call to the actors of the armed conflict through art so that they assume a commitment of respect towards the population of Toribío,” wrote Jafeth Gómez of the Wipala Cultural Collective.
More pictures and videos from the event have been shared with the hashtag #MuralistasdelosPueblos (#VillageMuralists). More than 100 photos of the minga can be seen in a photo album by photographer Marialina Mavizu [es] on Facebook.
This post originally appeared on Global Voices Online.
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