Palettes of Freedom: Murals shaping political and ethnic identities in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Abstract

A naturalized inequality and economic instability in combination with a high cultural diversity have resulted in many contested political and ethnic identities in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Under the homogenizing assumption of streets as public space and by that common property, citizens decide to take to the streets in order to protest about ongoing socio-political matters such as the ruling governmental policies and gender related violence. Power division and by that the (re)construction of political and ethnic identities are related to the social structure created by the government, but also among citizens themselves. These identities are invited to (re)construct themselves through contemporary muralism in Buenos Aires, a process in which existing relations of power are called to be reconsidered through act and image within a changing ambiguous public space.