Graffiti & Politics & Cacerolazos

Buenos Aires Cacerolazo
Despite all of the information I have gathered about Buenos Aires since the start of this class, there is still so much that I would love to learn about before arriving in Argentina. Being presented with an “open topic”, I decided to spend my time looking at both the street art of Buenos Aires, and the political nature of the city.

Personally, I am interested in the documentation of art and culture—particularly urban culture—through a variety of mediums such as arts publications and documentary film. I enjoyed finding several youtube videos that documented the urban art and culture in Buenos Aires, often emphasizing the youth culture and activism.
The first thing I looked at was the street art of the city. I found several really cool youtube videos about graffiti in Buenos Aires, as well as images of the art.
Street art videos:

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Much of the graffiti in Buenos Aires is political. The active political nature of Buenos Aires is another reason why I am interested in the city. I have attended political protests and love the rush that comes from feelings of solidarity. The most notable political uprisings that have occurred in Buenos Aires happened after the economic crisis of Argentina, which is very well known. In 2001, the country defaulted on a US $132 billion loan repayment, and as a result plunged into economic and political turmoil. This resulted in the currency being devalued by more than 50%, almost immediately, which was a necessary move to secure further aid from the IMF (International Monetary Fund). The people of Argentina revolted as bank accounts were subsequently frozen. This has had a large effect on the people of the country and their relationships with the Argentine government. My cousin, who lived in Buenos Aires, used to tell me how her host family kept ALL of their money in a secure bank inside their home because they lost all trust in the banks of the city. The corruption associated with Latin America results in frequent political protests, as well as some very interesting graffiti. Here are some images of political graffiti:
Political Graffiti 1
Political Graffiti 2
Here is a video documenting the 2001/2002 protests after the economic crisis:

I would like to arrive in Buenos Aires with at least some basic knowledge about the politics of the city. I spent some time reading plenty of articles about past and present issues in Argentina, and was most interested in how Argentines are known for their raucous demonstrations. The people of this country seem to make a very distinct effort to be seen and heard by their government.
One particularly recent uprising happened in March of this year, when the Argentine president, Kirschner, imposed taxes on the Argentine farmers reducing their profits. Outraged farmers felt the tax was unfair as Argentina supposedly continues a free market economic policy. The farmers were not the only people to protest, as the inhabitants of Buenos Aires likewise started striking by blocking the main arteries into the main cities of Argentina, and blocking trucks from delivering meat or milk. These blockades on the roads were created with farm equipment like combines, tractors, grain drills! I was powerfully moved when I read about how the people of Buenos Aires took pots and pans out to their balconies and banged them, joined by a chorus of honking horns from the buses and cars throughout the whole city, between 8 and 10 PM for several nights to support the farmers.
A very interesting article showed pictures of the protest
When I was reading about the actions I encountered several terms that I was unfamiliar with, so I was thankful to stumble upon a helpful site explaining Argentine economic terms
The one term that was most important to me was “cacerolazo”, which is the term for the kind of protest that originated in 2001 after the economic crisis. This is when people make whatever noise they can by banging on pots and pans, balconies, street poles, clapping, honking car horns, beating on drums, etc.