22nd April 2024

Last night we went to a Santiago restaurant called Panchita. This was some way away and we took an Uber to get there squeezing all five of us into this, no so big, car!! The food was very good and the Carmenere wine as good as always. We had a very interesting ceviche with salmon and Tiger’s Milk.

Today we are going on an art tour walk in an area of Santiago called Bella Vista, which is especially noted for street art.

We took an Uber to the meeting point and joined our guide, Sebastian. He told us he was from Valparaiso where his company is located and where he conducts many of his tours. In this case he came to Santiago’s especially for us.

He explained the importance and relevance of street art and the difference between graffiti, muralists and street art. We walked the streets, and he pointed out particular examples of the works along the way. Much of it was extremely well executed and beautifully drawn. Quite a lot, also had some political point to make and the whole street art scene was born of political dissent and if one is to believe Sebastian, also born in Santiago, Chile, (Valparaiso also claims to be the genesis of street art!!). Most of the early artists were left wing sympathizers and many flourished during the Pinochet years. Many of the best artists started out as ‘taggers’ who just indiscriminately write on the side of buildings, this then developed into full-fledged art.

Sebastian also gave a commentary on life in Chile, politics and Chilean life in general. His views on the present and past regimes were very interesting. He also talked about the indigenous peoples of Chile. The largest tribe of which is the Mapuche who number nearly 2 million and live in the southern part of the country. The Mapuche have their own language and culture and their strength allowed them to prevail over the Incas and the Spanish invaders.

This is quite a long extract from Wikipedia about the tribe and also some of the other indigenous peoples who are very important in Chile.

From Wikipedia

Begins:

“The Mapuche (/mæˈpʊtʃi/^[3]; Mapuche and Spanish: [maˈputʃe])) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who share a common social, religious, and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage as Mapudungun speakers. Their homelands once extended from Choapa Valley to the Chiloé Archipelago and later spread eastward to Puelmapu,a land comprising part of the Argentine pampa and Patagonia. Today the collective group makes up over 80% of the indigenous peoples in Chile and about 9% of the total Chilean population. The Mapuche are concentrated in the Araucanía region. Many have migrated from rural areas to the cities of Santiago and Buenos Aires for economic opportunities.

The Mapuche traditional economy is based on agriculture; their traditional social organization consists of extended families, under the direction of a lonko or chief. In times of war, the Mapuche would unite in larger groupings and elect a toki (meaning "axe" or "axe-bearer") to lead them. Mapuche material culture is known for its textiles and silverwork.

At the time of Spanish arrival, the Picunche inhabited the valleys between the Choapa and Itata, Araucanian Mapuche inhabited the valleys between the Itata and Toltén rivers, south of there, the Huilliche and the Cunco lived as far south as the Chiloé Archipelago. In the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, Mapuche groups migrated eastward into the Andes and Pampas, conquering, fusing and establishing relationships with the Poya and Pehuenche. At about the same time, ethnic groups of the Pampa regions, the Puelche, Ranquel, and northern Aonikenk, made contact with Mapuche groups. The Tehuelche adopted the Mapuche language and some of their culture, in what came to be called Araucanization, during which Patagonia came under effective Mapuche suzerainty.

Mapuche in the Spanish-ruled areas, especially the Picunche, mingled with the Spanish during the colonial period, forming a mestizo population that lost its indigenous identity. But Mapuche society in Araucanía and Patagonia remained independent until the late nineteenth century, when Chile occupied Araucanía and Argentina conquered Puelmapu. Since then the Mapuche have become subjects, and later nationals and citizens of the respective states. Today, many Mapuche and Chilean communities are engaged in the so-called Mapuche conflict over land and indigenous rights in both Argentina and Chile”

Ends

Sebastian also told us of the musician Victor Jara who was gruesomely tortured and assassinated during the Pinochet coup in 1973. His memory is enshrined in a Bob Dylan song. We also saw a mural which is based upon Picasso’s Guernica and represents the backlash against the subway fare increases imposed by President Pinera in 2019. Chile has vacillated between right- and left-wing governments and now has a center-left administration under President Gabriel Boric

Sebastian’s commentary was extremely interesting both from an art and social viewpoint. He is articulate and knowledgeable and a very personable guide.

After our tour, we walked a short distance to an arcade where we had lunch. I had a Pastel de Choclo which is a sort of ‘shepherds pie’ but with corn, instead of potatoes as a topping. 

We then took an Uber back to the hotel and a nap. Around 5 p.m. MAC and I went to the bar on the 5th floor and had an Aperol Spritz and a Pisco Sour.

Then we went to a wine spa for dinner which was a short walk away from the hotel. Here they served food and also ‘flights’ of local wines for tasting. The menu was interesting and the food good. I had some sweetbreads, a little over-cooked, but tasty and roasted beef tongue. I had a glass of Carmenere wine which is a local favorite and a grape very much a part of Chilean viniculture.

We walked home and went to bed.

Photos from Santiago Street Art